Production and Analysis of the Composition of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extracts From Exocarpy Citrus Meyeri Tan.

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to evaluate the effectiveness of using supercritical carbon dioxide extraction to obtain essential oils from exocarpy of Meyer lemon in comparison with the pressing method.
 The plant material is represented by the exocarpy of Meyer lemon Citrus meyeri Tan., Rutovye family – Rutaceae, collected in the vicinity of Khujand (Republic of Tajikistan), in November 2014. Supercritical carbon dioxide extracts (CO2 extracts) were obtained at the Research Center for Ecological GORO resources (Rostov-on-Don) at the KOERS1 installation. As a comparison, we used the essential oil obtained by direct pressing on hydraulic presses without heating. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the components was carried out by gas chromatography with chromatography-mass spectrometric detection.
 As a result of the study, it was found that the optimal parameters of CO2 extraction, which provide the highest content of limonene and γ-terpinene in the extract, are: 50 °С, 16 MPa, and 30 min. A comparative analysis of the content of extract components showed that the yield of limonene during supercritical extraction, compared with traditional technology, increased by 7.5%, the γ-terpinene content was 1.5 times. In addition, significant differences were found in the qualitative and quantitative composition of the essential oil and the CO2 extract of Meyer lemon. In essential oil, the content is higher: α- and β-pinene, p-cumene, geranial, and others. In the CO2 extract, the content is higher: sabinene, α-humulene, β-bisabolene and other low-volatile compounds, with an additional 9 components: α-thuen, terpenolene, geranyl acetate, etc., which indicates the need for an additional pharmacological study of the CO2-extract of Meyer lemon.