Deterpenation of Citrus Essential Oils by Solvent Partition with Dimethyl Sulfoxide

Abstract

SUMMARY A comparison of deterpenation of cold‐pressed lemon and orange oils by silicic acid, steam distillation, and dimetbyl sulfoxide (DMSO) partition is presented. The recoveries by each method for lemon and orange oils and the ultraviolet absorbance of the orange oil fractions are given. Deterpenation by DMSO compared favorably with the steam‐distillation and silicic acid methods. The recoveries of 34 naturally occurring citrus constituents from aqueous DMSO after solvent partition with pentane are presented to indicate the separation capabilities of DMSO for flavor and aroma studies in citrus and citrus products and possible application to residue analyses.

Essential oils and related products

“…A new bitter principle, ichangin, was isolated from a hybrid of Citrus ichangensis by Dreyer (145). The separation of terpenes from citrus oils was accomplished with the formation of thiourea inclusion complexes by Askitopoulos (13), and with solvent partition using dimethyl sulfoxide by Norman and Craft (436).…”