“EXTRACTION OF ESSENTIAL OIL FROM NUTS AND SPICES”

By: Katy Salter, Monique Gray, and Ronnie Groller

BACKGROUND

Peanut oil is generally used for cooking purposes. For example, it is used in the fast food industry, it can be used to make soap and soap products, and it can be used to synthesize biodiesel, like we did in organic II lab.

Almond oil is another oil that has important applications. Almond oil is used for cooking as well, and it can be used as a skin treatment. Also, it is associated with reduced cardiovascular risks. One of it derivatives, Amygdalin, can be used as a cancer treatment, but research is still being done on its effectivity.

BACKGROUNDCinnamaldehyde is an essential oil that gives

cinnamon its smell and flavor, like most essential oils from spices. Extracted essential oils from spices, such as cinnamon, can be used in artificial flavoring, and in candles and cosmetics. Also, cinnamaldehyde can be used as an antimicrobial and fungicide that can be sprayed on fruits and vegetables.

Thus, extraction of these essential oils is important, and methods for extracting these oils serve important purposes. Therefore, we wanted to develop a method for extracting essential oils using the SFE.

INTRODUCTIONAs part of Instrumental Analytical Chemistry course we are

required to do a real world project, thus, for this real world experiment we, as a group, have decided to experiment with extracting essential oils from spices and nuts. Thus, we want to see if extraction of essential oils can be done using SFE and characterization can be done using the IR.

PURPOSEThe purpose of this experiment was to see if extraction of

essential oils can be done using the SFE and to see if characterization can be done using IR Spec. Also, we wanted to find relative setting that can be used to extract these oils. The majority of the experimental results were analyzed with more of a qualitative perspective than quantitative.

MATERIALSSamples- Cinnamon Sticks- Almonds - Raw Peanuts- Hexane ( As Solvent)Standards- Almond Oil - Peanut Oil- Cinnamaldehyde

(Structure)

Instruments Used- SFE- IR

PROCEDURESupercritical Fluid ExtractionTurned on CO2, turned on the SFE. SFE was cleaned and then samples were ran.

IR Setup the instrument, ran a background, and

ran samples.

PROCEDURE Sample Preparation & Analysis:Crushed a sufficient amount of each sample using a

mortal and pestle. Weigh about 4g of each sample (Spices or Nuts). Weigh an empty 25mL Erlenmeyer flask (this will be

used to collect the sample), While collecting sample, place parafilm over opening of

flask to prevent loss of product.Re-weighed the 25mL Erlenmeyer flask with sample to

get an estimate of how much was extracted. Ran an IR of sample and compared to standard samples

that were already run or looked for characteristic peaks related essential oil (cinnamon).

PROCEDURESFE PeanutsMasses1. Peanuts : 4.2025g2. 25mL Flask: 21.1802g3. Final : 21.4567g

21.4567 – 21.1802g = 0.2765g oil0.2765/4.2025g = 0.06579 x 100= (6.579%)

Super Critical Fluid Extraction SettingsOven Temperature:

110⁰CValve Temperature: 120⁰C

Pressure: 253 barr

PROCEDURESFE AlmondsMasses1. Almonds: 4.0198g2. 25mL Flask: 24.3366g3. Final: 24.4097g24.4097g – 24.3366g = 0.0731g0.0731g – 4.0198g = 0.018g x 100

(1.80%)

Super Critical Fluid Extraction SettingsOven Temperature:

130⁰CValve Temperature: 120⁰C

Pressure: 250 Barr

PROCEDURESFE CinnamonMasses1. Cinnamon:4.0712g2. 25mL Flask: 24.3360g3. Final: (We forgot to weight)

Super Critical Fluid Extraction SettingOven Temperature:

100⁰CValve Temperature: 110⁰C

Pressure: 240 barr

RESULTSPeanutsExtraction of the essential oil of peanuts was done using

the SFE at the setting (Oven Temperature: 110⁰C, Valve Temperature: 120⁰C, Pressure: 253 barr) . Thus, the experiment

was ran for about 30-40 minutes. Thus, 0.06579g of peanut oil was extracted. A couple drops of hexane were added to the flask to

dissolve the oil. The IR indicated that there a ketone peak. Also, the IR spectra of

the extracted oil resembled the IR spectra of the peanut oil standard.

The appearance of the oil greatly resembled that of the pure peanut oil.

PEANUT OIL STANDARD

EXTRACTED PEANUT OIL

RESULTSAlmondsExtraction of the essential oil of almonds was done

using the SFE at setting (Oven Temperature: 130⁰C, Valve Temperature: 120⁰C, Pressure: 250 Barr) thus, the experiment was ran for about 30-40 min and 0.0731g of almond oil was extracted. A couple drops of hexane were added to the flask to dissolve the oil.

The IR indicated that there a ketone peak. Also, the IR spectra of the extracted oil resembled the IR spectra of the Almond oil standard.

The Appearance of the oil greatly resembled that of the pure almond oil.

ALMOND OIL STANDARD

EXTRACTED ALMOND OIL

RESULTSCinnamon

Extraction of the peanuts was done using the SFE at the setting (Oven Temperature: 120⁰C, Valve Temperature: 110⁰C,

Pressure: 240 barr) . Thus, the experiment was ran for about 30-40 minutes. The amount of sample that was extracted is unknown but the

product was visible and the IR indicated that an essential oil was extracted. A couple drops of hexane were added to the flask to

dissolve some of the product. The IR indicated that there was a ketone peak and there was some aromatics activity in the fingerprint region..

The IR of the extracted cinnamon was compared to the standard structure that we obtained (Cinnamaldehyde), and the IR showed characteristic peaks which were ketone of an aldehyde, and some

aromatic peaks related to the structure. The appearance of the oil was a yellowish gold and it smelled like cinnamon!

CINNAMON EXTRACT

CINNAMALDEHYDE

CONCLUSION

Based on the IR spectra and IR standard spectra, we were successful at using the SFE to extract essential oils from the peanuts, almonds, and cinnamon.

DISCUSSIONWe developed a reasonable method for extracting essential

oils from nuts and spices, however, the temperature and pressure settings, we used for the SFE, had to be changed throughout the experiment. Thus, there is still room for improvement of the temperatures and pressure settings to make the extraction of essential oils better.

Also, developing quantitative data could be done in further experiments because extraction efficiencies can be calculated and the amount of extracted product could be increased by better temperature and pressure setting and possibly with greater amount of starting material.

WORKS CITEDQuality Control of Commercially Available Essential Oils by Means of

Raman SpectroscopyKatrin R. Strehle, Petra Rösch, Dorothea Berg, Hartwig Schulz, and Jürgen PoppJournal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2006 54 (19), 7020-7026.

Extraction of Essential Oils and Cuticular Waxes with Compressed CO2:  Effect of Extraction Pressure and Temperature

Filipe Gaspar. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2002 41 (10), 2497-2503.

Extraction of Essential Oils and Cuticular Waxes with Compressed CO2:  Effect of Matrix Pretreatment

F. Gaspar, R. Santos, and, and M. B. King. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2000 39 (12), 4603-4608 .

QUESTIONS