Utilization of wastes from winery industry seems to be a cost-effective and an environmental friendly investment. A number of valuable components can be recovered from winery wastes and specifically from wine lees like tartaric acid, b-1,3-glucans, squalene. The main goal of this study was to apply supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) extraction for the isolation of squalene from wine lees. The samples were collected during the fractionation at 12-30 MPa under isothermal conditions at 40 degrees C to monitor the changes in the chemical composition and extract yield with respect to pressure and CO2 consumption. Using SCCO2, total squalene content in the extracts was found to be 16.9 g/kg, a value comparable to the one obtained by using ultrasound assisted extraction (20.4 g/kg hexane extract) or a reference method (acid assisted extraction using organic solvents) (17.6 g/kg). Examination of lipid composition by TLC verified the absence of squalene oxidation products in the extracts marked previously as a drawback of the other extraction techniques. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.