Abstract:

Supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction (SFE) technique was utilized to simultaneously extract the essential oil compounds and pigments in Xuefeng tangerine peel. To maximize the yield of crude extract from tangerine peel, the process conditions for the pilot-scale extraction of Xuefeng tangerine peel were optimized by orthogonal array design method. The optimum pilot-scale extraction conditions were determined as follows: CO2 flow rate of 21.27 L/min for an extraction duration of 1 h at 30 MPa, 40 ℃, which yielded 4.56% of crude extract (pigments plus essential oil). The crude extract obtained under these conditions was separated with a separalory funnel, and the oil phase was then centrifugated at 12000 r/min for 10 min to harvest the upper phase, which was analyzed by GC-MS for its volatile composition. A total of 21 volatile compounds were detected in the analyte, and the prominent compounds were D-limonene, α-farnesene, calarene, β-elemene, β-pinene, and so on and the total content of D-limonene and α-farnesene exceeded 90%.

Key words: orange peel, supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction, pilot-scale extraction conditions, essential oil, gas chromatography-mass spectromethy