Optimization of High-Concentration Trans-Anethole Production Through Hydrodistillation of Star Anise

Abstract

Illicium verum Hook essential oil (EO) is composed mainly of trans-anethole (TA), which has therapeutic potential. The extraction is usually by hydrodistillation, taking long hours, leaving the process costly and product with lower quality. Thus, the present study sought to optimize dehydrated fruit fragmentation by Box-Wilson central composite design and EO extraction and EO quality using a 2 4-1 fractional factorial design. It is concluded that the fruits must be fragmented to sizes smaller than 425 μm using a knife mill. For hydrodistillation, the condition reported as ideal was granulometry < 0.425 mm, 8% mass, 1 hour and water volume of 200 mL. This process provided an EO yield of 10.2% and high-grade TA (96.6%), requiring shorter time of extraction.

Behavioral and Antennal Responses of Tribolium confusum to Varronia globosa Essential Oil and Its Main Constituents: Perspective for Their Use as Repellent

“…In conclusion, our work shows that V. globosa essential oil as a whole or its major compound anethole could potentially be used in the development of alternative pest management strategies for the protection of stored products against T. confusum. Essential oils of other plants containing anethole such as star anise or fennel could be a good alternative, because of the low yield of V. globosa essential oil (see for example [ 40 ]). Further investigations are, however, needed to develop potential treatment strategies, for example by treating storage surfaces [ 41 ].…”

Maximization of Essential Oil Antioxidant Capacity via Star Anise Hydrodistillation

“…Hydrodistillation of fragmented star anise produces an essential oil that respects the principle of the Pure Food and Drug Act, because it does not use organic solvents such as ethyl ether which may increase the amount of oil produced, but would require a complementary purification step (Destro et al, 2019). This also reveals an eco-friendly technology due to a solvent-free extraction.…”

“…Based on the product of the test values for the TA standard and the observed TA content in HD5 oil of 82.2% (Destro et al, 2019), the hypothetical results should be 40.7 mg GAE/g EO for TP, 7.1 for FRAP, 7.5 for ABTS, and 14.1 mmol TEAC/g EO for DPPH (Table 3). However, the actual values obtained in analyses were 59.6 mg GAE /g EO, 14.3, 25.7 and 23.5 mmol TEAC/g EO, respectively.…”

“…Hydrodistillation uses only water and has low energy demand, low-cost equipment, and moderate operating conditions. It is known that the yield and trans-anethole content in the hydrodistilled aromatic oil (HD) is dependent on the parameters of granulometry (G), dried fruit mass (m), extraction time (t), and water volume (V): the highest oil yield was obtained by the use of smaller particles (<425 μm), high particle ratio to water (16%), and longer hydrodistillation times (3h), but highest transanethole content (96.6% TA) was verified by using shorter time (1h) and lower particle ratio to water (8%) than previously (80.4% TA) (Destro et al, 2019). However, the individual or interaction effects of grain size, fruit mass, extraction time and water volume on the AC of the essential oil obtained were not known.…”

“…Hydrodistillations of star anise (Illicium verum Hook) essential oils (EO) were conducted under nine different sets of conditions (Table 1) , according to a fractional factorial experimental design 2 4-1 with three center points added, as reported by Destro et al (2019) for dried fruits (moisture on a dry basis of 12.98 ± 0.14%, w/w). The effects of the granulometry (G), fruit mass (m), extraction time (t), and water volume (V) were evaluated initially to determine which hydrodistillation parameters produce the highest yield and highest purity of EO (in terms of trans-anethole) (Destro et al, 2019). For the present study, the EOs obtained under the same conditions were also analyzed for AC.…”