engleski

OPTIMIZATION OF CAROTENOID EXTRACTION FROM Citrus unshiu PEELS USING GREEN SOLVENTS

Sample treatment is one of the most contaminant steps in the analytical process, mainly due to the high consumption of energy and petrol-based organic solvents, which involve a high environmental impact. One of the most promising strategies to reduce the side effects of the analytical methodology consists of the substitution of organic solvents with a greener alternative. Carotenoids belong to a group of organic chemical compounds. They are naturally occurring pigments in citrus peel. Standard extraction methods of carotenoids from citrus peel use n-hexane. Our goal was an optimization of solid-liquid extraction of carotenoids from Citrus unshiu peels using green solvents: acetone, ethyl acetate, limonene, 2-methyl tetrahydrofuran, cyclopentyl methyl ether. Response surface methodology (RSM) using the central composite designs (CCD) approach was used. Total carotenoids were determined spectrophotometrically. Optimized conditions of time, temperature, and type of solvent were 65 min, 65 °C with cyclopentyl methyl ether giving carotenoid content of 10.51 mg/L. Compared with the conventional solvent hexane gave an increase of 37.29%. Also, other green solvents gave significantly higher results compared to hexane. Using green solvents to extract carotenoids from mandarin peels could be recommended as an alternative to n-hexane.

green solvents, carotenoids, extraction, citrus peel

nije evidentirano