Food Solvent Research Articles

Determining the Optimum Conditions for Extracting Carotenoids from Syrian Apricot Fruits

The aim of this research is to extract carotenoids from apricot fruits using a food solvent (ethanol) and a non-food solvent (propanol). In addition, it aims to study the effect of different extraction conditions, i.e., the extraction temperature (20-40-60)°C and the extraction times (4-8-12) hours, on the carotenoids yield in order to improve and develop extraction methods. The extracted carotenoids were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the studied carotenoids are α-carotene and β-carotene. It was found that β-carotene constitutes about 80% of the total carotenoids in apricots. The results indicated that the extraction yield using ethanol was low compared to the extraction yield using propanol. Propanol is the most suitable solvent for carotenoids extraction in comparison with ethanol. The temperature also had a significant effect on the extraction yield; at 20°C the extraction yield was very low, and 60°C was the optimum temperature for the extraction of carotene. The extraction yield significantly increased with time in the first hours of extraction, and there was no significant effect from increasing the extraction time for a period of 6-8 hours. Moreover, the pretreatment of fruits by freezing accelerated the extraction process and increased the extraction yield. The optimum conditions for extracting carotenoids were determined in the conditions of food extraction; the optimum conditions for extracting carotenoids are: extraction at 60°C for three hours with pretreatment by freezing as the extraction rate reached up to 6.36 mg/100 g using ethanol as a food solvent.

Developments in denture teeth to prevent softening by food solvents

The effect of various food-simulating solvents on the hardness of denture teeth after varying storage times, using a Martens hardness test was determined. Martens hardness (HM) was assessed at baseline and during storage up to 1 month in distilled water (DW), peppermint oil (PO), heptane (HT) and 75% ethanol (ET) for four commercially-available denture teeth; Vivodent (VIV), Double-cross-linked Postaris (DCL), Orthosit (ORT), Candulor porcelain (POR) and two polymer based experimental denture teeth: Experimental 1 (EXP1); a hybrid nanocomposite with two different sized silanated filler particles and Experimental 2 (EXP2); containing an organic copolymer based upon urethanedimethacrylate and polymethyl methacrylate. Hardness [mean (sd)] at baseline was: VIV 142 (1), DCL 142 (1), ORT 209 (9), POR 2926 (101), EXP1 285 (11), and EXP2 146 (12). One-way ANOVA using Tukey's test on polymer-based materials showed that the hardness values of ORT and EXP1 were significantly higher than those of VIV, DCL and EXP2 (P < 0.05). Moreover, EXP1 had a significantly higher hardness value than ORT (P < 0.05). Except for EXP1, all polymer based materials showed a significant drop in hardness after storage in ET (P < 0.05). Specimens stored in water, heptane and peppermint oil showed minor fluctuations in hardness, which were not statistically significant.

Food Solvents and Flavouring Agents

Food Solvents and Flavouring Agents