CO2 Extraction and Refining of Lutein

Lutein is a kind of carotenoid, which widely exists in plants in nature, such as bananas, potatoes, chrysanthemums, etc.

Lutein Features

Lutein is bright in color, strong in coloring power, safe, non-toxic, and rich in nutrition, so it is widely used.
There are 40 carbon atoms in the molecule of lutein, and the relative molecular mass is about 558.
Insoluble in water, soluble in some organic solvents, such as chloroform, n-hexane, petroleum ether, etc.
Lutein is relatively stable in acidic solutions, weak light, and low temperatures and unstable in alkaline conditions. It changes color reversibly under weak acid and weak alkali conditions and is degraded under strong light, strong alkali, and high temperature. destroy.

Lutein in Calendula

Calendula is an ornamental flower and a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, which is widely planted in China, resource: window. Its flowers are rich in carotenoids, especially lutein, which can be used in food, cosmetics and feed. The common method of extracting lutein from Calendula officinalis is the organic solvent method. Because of the high solvent residue, its production and application are restricted. Supercritical CO2 extraction has become the first choice for the extraction of lutein from Calendula officinalis.

The following mainly introduces the refining problem of supercritical CO2 fluid extraction of lutein from marigold flower lutein with organic solvent.

CO2 Extraction of Lutein from Calendula officinalis

The technological process of extracting lutein from Calendula officinalis with supercritical CO2 fluid is: Calendula officinalis→drying→crushing→extraction kettle→rectification column→lutein extract.

CO2 Extraction Process And Parameters

A certain amount of calendula flowers are collected, fermented in the dark, dried in vacuum, crushed, and 80-mesh sieve to obtain the required raw materials. The content of lutein in the dry solid material is 9%. When using the separation method of supercritical CO₂ fluid extraction, the specific operating parameters are: extraction kettle 24MPa/42°C, separation 11MPa/42°C, rectification column 8MPa/38°C, CO₂ flow rate 12.0L/h, under this condition Ye Huang The element can obtain 82.2% extraction rate.

Refining Calendula Chrysanthemum Flower Lutein Organic Solvent Extract by CO2 Extraction Process

The technological process of using supercritical CO2 fluid to refine the lutein organic solvent extract of Calendula officinalis is: Calendula officinalis flower→drying→n-hexane extraction→concentration→organic solvent extract→extraction kettle→rectification column→low solvent residual lutein infusion

Parameters of refining lutein from Calendula officinalis by CO2 extraction process

The dry solid material of Calendula officinalis is extracted with n-hexane, evaporated and concentrated to obtain lutein dipping (lutein content is 9.8%), and its solvent residue is 50~150mg/kg.

The specific operating parameters of the refining process are: extraction kettle 10MPa/42°C, separation kettle 6.5MPa/42°C, rectification column 5.5MPa/40°C CO2 flow rate 18.0L/h, circular extraction for 2 hours, the lutein content of the obtained dipping 9.0%, the solvent residue is reduced to 5.4mg/kg, and the quality is greatly improved. The reason for the slight decrease in the content of lutein is that the extraction of the organic solvent will carry a small amount of lutein, which will be removed by the activated carbon filled in the rectification column.

Read More: supercritical CO2 Wikipedia

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Supercritical CO2 Fluid Extraction and Refining of Lutein