An improved technique for the extraction of precarthamin under mild conditions

Abstract

The floret paste of dyer's saffron was suspended separately in methanol, ethanol, acetone and ethyl acetate, and precarthamin in solutions was quantified to assess the capacity of the pigment extractability by the test solvents. On the basis of the experimental data, acetone was found to be most promising solvent for extracting the pH-sensitive, O 2-labile and photo-oxidizable precarthamin under mild conditions. The other three solvents do not appear to be practical use for the dye preparation, judging from their lower capacities for pigment recovery.