AN IMPROVED METHOD FOR EXTRACTION OF CURCUMIN USING A UNIQUE HEATING MODEL BY MICROWAVE EXTRACTION

摘要

AN IMPROVED METHOD FOR EXTRACTION OF CURCUMIN USING A UNIQUE HEATING MODEL BY MICROWAVE EXTRACTION ABSTRACT The present work reports on an improved extraction method using microwaves based on solvent- sample duo-heating synergism, for the extraction of curcumin from Curcuma longa L rhizomes. The dual heating mechanism is based on simultaneous heating of sample matrix and extracting solvent simultaneously to different extent based on their differences in converting the absorbed microwave energy to heat energy. Methanol was used as a modifier to soak the plant material to bring about selective and effective heating of the sample matrix under microwave. Acetone was used as the extracting solvent, which has excellent curcumin solubilizing capacity and heats up under microwave moderately owing to its good dissipation factor. Extraction conditions, namely microwave power, irradiation time, particle size and modifier volume were optimized using Taguchi design approach and curcumin was quantified using high performance thin layer chromatography. The optimum conditions as obtained from signal-to-noise ratio analysis and interaction studies between factors were as follows