Abstract
Kewda (Pandanus fascicularis Lam.) is an important economic plant, and its male inflorescence is used in the production of kewda perfumes. It grows wild and is also cultivated; an estimated 35 million flowers (3,500 tons) worth $10 million are processed annually in Ganjam (19.18°N, 84.51°E) India. Kewda products are used in flavoring tobacco, foods and sweet meats, and in traditional medicines. Extraction of flowers with hexane furnishes the “concrete,” which, on fractionation with cold methanol, gives “absolute.” We have now fractionated the concrete with liquid CO2 to obtain fractions enriched with benzenoids and terpenoids. We have also carried out direct liquid CO2 extraction of flowers. It is notable that in liquid CO2 fractionation, a solvent-free product with improved organoleptic profile is obtained. The direct extraction of flowers with liquid CO2 afforded a superior product in 0.24% yield; however, the process is suitable for extraction in the laboratory only. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Kewda products are used in flavoring tobacco, foods and soft drinks. The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation gave very low yield, where as hexane extract (concrete) yielded nearly 10 times more in comparison to essential oil. The concrete and absolute obtained by partial precipitation of wax may not be suitable for use in foods because of the presence of organic solvent residues. The liquid CO2 fractionation of concrete, however, affords absolute with similar composition but free from solvent residues, and is recommended for using in foods. Further liquid CO2 fraction of concrete is organoleptically superior compared with absolute obtained in the conventional way. Similarly, extraction of flowers in liquid CO2 gave higher yield of valuable components with less percentage of waxy materials. Because bulk density of flowers is low, large liquid CO2 plant is required for commercial scale production, making CO2 fractionation of concrete an attractive alternative process.
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