Abstract:

Molecular distillation was used to purify the essential oil from ginger oleoresin extracted with supercritical CO2. Based on single factor investigations, the optimization of distillation temperature and pressure by central composition design coupled with response surface methodology was performed for achieving both higher oil yield and α-zingiberene content. The two factors and the interaction between them all significantly affected oil yield andα-zingiberene content. Distillation temperature of 76 ℃ and distillation pressure of 147 Pa were found optimal, and the resultant oil yield andα-zingiberene content were (42.33 ± 1.65)% and (445.48 ± 6.95) mg/g, respectively.

Key words: molecular distillation, response surface methodology, ginger essential oil, α-zingiberene