Innovation in a Continuous System of Distillation by Steam to Obtain Essential Oil from Persian Lime Juice (Citrus latifolia Tanaka).

José Daniel Padilla-De La Rosa,Enrique Arriola-Guevara,Guadalupe Guatemala-Morales,Anaberta Cardador-Martínez,Mirna Estarrón-Espinosa,Magaly Dyanira Manzano-Alfaro,Jaime Rosalío Gómez-Huerta

doi:10.3390/molecules26144172

Abstract

The citrus industry is one of the most important economic areas within the global agricultural sector. Persian lime is commonly used to produce lime juice and essential oil, which are usually obtained by batch distillation. The aim of this work was to validate a patented continuous steam distillation process and to both physically and chemically characterize the volatile fractions of essential Persian lime oil. Prior to distillation, lime juice was obtained by pressing the lime fruit. Afterwards, the juice was subjected to a continuous steam distillation process by varying the ratio of distillate flow to feed flow (0.2, 0.4, and 0.6). The distillate oil fractions were characterized by measuring their density, optical rotation, and refractive index. Gas chromatography GC-FID was used to analyze the chemical compositions of the oil fractions. The process of continuous steam distillation presented high oil recovery efficiencies (up to 90%) and lower steam consumption compared to traditional batch process distillation since steam consumption ranged from 32 to 60% for different steam levels. Moreover, a reduction in process time was observed (from 8 to 4 h). The oil fractions obtained via continuous steam distillation differed significantly in their composition from the parent compounds and the fractions.

Highlights

Citrus is the most abundant crop of fruit trees around the world, with annual production in 2015 totaling approximately 130,947 million tons
Since some fractions presented concentrations close to those of distilled oil obtained via batch processes, this process was explored under a residence time of four hours, leading to a reduction greater than 50% compared to traditional processes
The raw material used for the experimental tests was Persian lime (Citrus latifolia Tanaka) from the region of San Martin Hidalgo, Jalisco

Summary

Introduction

Citrus is the most abundant crop of fruit trees around the world, with annual production in 2015 totaling approximately 130,947 million tons. The main citrus fruits grown globally are oranges, mandarins, lemons, limes, and grapefruits. China, India, Mexico, Spain, and the USA produce over two-thirds of the world’s citrus fruits [1]. In 2017, the worldwide production of acid lime fruit was 17,218,173 tons, among which Mexico contributed 2,528,174 tons and was considered the main producer of lime fruit, comprising 14.7% of the total production [2]. Molecules 2021, 26, x Molecules 2021, 26, 4172.

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