ACCELERATED SOLVENT EXTRACTION AND FRACTIONED EXTRACTION TO OBTAIN THE CURCUMA LONGA VOLATILE OIL AND OLEORESIN

Curcuma longa L. is a common species among the aromatic plants in Brazil. The roots are used in dairy food as colorant and flavoring substitute for saffron. Turmeric (C. longa L.) contains curcuminoids that have antimutagenic and antioxidant activities, and is thus used for the formulation of foods for the prevention of cancer. Turmeric extracts rich in curcuminoids were obtained using a mixture of CO₂ and EtOH/IsoC₃, and the assays were performed in a fixed bed extractor at 300 bar, 303 K. The bed's height effect was studied, maintaining constant the bed diameter and porosity; for the accelerated solvent extraction, the cosolvent percentages used were 10, 50 and 90% (v/v), with or without a static period of 30 min. The curcuminoid content was monitored using a spectrophotometer; the volatile oil was analyzed by gas chromatography‐flame ionization detector, and the extract chemical profile was observed by thin‐layer chromatography. The overall extraction curves showed that by keeping the relation between solvent and raw material constant, maximum extraction yield was obtained in a shorter time using the lowest bed height (H_B/D_B = 1.8). The supercritical fluid extraction using 50% of the cosolvent that employed the static period increased the curcuminoid content (0.72% of curcuminoids) and reached ～10% of extract yield.