Extraction of Chili, Black Pepper, and Ginger with Near-Critical CO₂, Propane, and Dimethyl Ether:  Analysis of the Extracts by Quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Abstract

Ginger, black pepper, and chili powder were extracted using near-critical carbon dioxide, propane, and dimethyl ether on a laboratory scale to determine the overall yield and extraction efficiency for selected pungent components. The temperature dependency of extraction yield and efficiency was also determined for black pepper and chili using propane and dimethyl ether. The pungency of the extracts was determined by using an NMR technique developed for this work. The volatiles contents of ginger and black pepper extracts were also determined. Extraction of all spice types was carried out with acetone to compare overall yields. Subcritical dimethyl ether was as effective at extracting the pungent principles from the spices as supercritical carbon dioxide, although a substantial amount of water was also extracted. Subcritical propane was the least effective solvent. All solvents quantitatively extracted the gingerols from ginger. The yields of capsaicins obtained by supercritical CO(2) and dimethyl ether were similar and approximately double that extracted by propane. The yield of piperines obtained by propane extraction of black pepper was low at approximately 10% of that achieved with dimethyl ether and CO(2), but improved with increasing extraction temperature.

Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Plant Flavors and Fragrances

“…Beside critical points that are comparable with CO 2 , these solvents have higher polarizability than CO 2 , resulting in a stronger interaction with the more polar compounds and co-solvents [16][17][18]. However, experimental results show that SC CO 2 offers a wider versatility for the fractionation of extracted compounds using different operative pressures in the extractors or separators [1,7,11,19,20].…”

Piperine-Type Amides: Review of the Chemical and Biological Characteristics

“…Supercritical CO 2 extraction of pepper requires high pressures and temperatures, but can reduce the amount of solvent required. However, the levels of piperine extracted were about half that obtained with solvents such as acetone (Catchpole et al, 2003). Although MAE is a more rapid extraction technique for piperine compared to conventional extraction techniques, it provides the same level of piperine extraction efficiency and may only be possible for small scale analysis of raw pepper (Raman & Gaikar, 2002).…”

“…High extraction efficiencies have been achieved with near-supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SCO 2 ) (Catchpole, Grey, Perry, Burgess, Redmond, & Porter, 2003) and with microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) (Raman & Gaikar, 2002). Supercritical CO 2 extraction of pepper requires high pressures and temperatures, but can reduce the amount of solvent required.…”

Batch Extraction of Oil from Rice Bran with Liquefied Low Temperature Dimethyl Ether

“…Apart from its use as a fuel, near-critical DME is an effective medium for extracting biologically active, flavoring or pungent organic compounds from some spices (ginger, black pepper, and chili powder) and its effectiveness was found to be comparable with that of supercritical CO 2 [19]. In addition to near-critical extraction systems, DME can be used as a low-temperature solvent and extracting agent applicable to specialized laboratory procedures as recently demonstrated for extraction from several bio-materials [20].…”