BIXIN POWDER PRODUCTION IN CONICAL SPOUTED BED UNITS

ABSTRACT

Recent work has demonstrated that the red carotenoid bixin is easily extracted from Bixa orellana seeds by particle attrition and impact rather than by solvent extraction. This technique may require a previous step for drying seeds at a safe temperature to preserve pigment quality. A spouted bed (SB) with a draft tube is the most appropriate equipment to process both seed drying and bixin extraction at low operational costs. Operational parameters of the SB unit are optimized as a function of the powder production rate. The maximum air inlet temperature for drying the seeds is also specified. A high performance liquid chromatography method has been developed for the semi-quantitative determination of bixin content in the powder produced. Results show that this SB unit can be more competitive than ball mill equipment.