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Extraction of carotenoids from carrots chips using liquefied n-butane as solvent
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National audience. Carotenoids are organic pigments produced by photosynthetic organisms, divided in two major classes: “carotenes” (oxygen free) and “xanthophylls” (containing oxygen). Carotenes are widely used in food industry as natural apolar pigment (E160a) in drinks, cakes, desserts or butter. Carrots (Daucus carota) are one of the best sources of carotenes, mainly with β-carotene and α-carotene. Extractions of carotenes from carrots are usually performed by organic solvents such as hexane, acetone, dichloromethane, ethanol. Nevertheless, the REACH regulations incite producers to look for alternative safer solvents. In particular, n-hexane, widely used as apolar solvent in extraction processes, is known to be toxic for the central nervous system. For that reason, we tried to substitute n-hexane with n-butane which is a non-toxic solvent with similar solvent power and low boiling point (−0.9°C). To study the technical feasibility of this substitution, a theoretical modeling approach (Hansen solubility parameters and COSMO-RS) was coupled with lab-scale experiments. The extractions with liquefied n-butane have been performed in a 1 liter stainless steel pressurized vessel at 20, 30 and 40°C (3 bar), during 2 hours without stirring. As a reference point, the extractions have also been performed in n-hexane at 68°C during 2 h. Then, the extracts have been analyzed using HPLC to identify the carotenes composition. Finally, both Hansen parameters and COSMO-RS simulations have predicted a similar solubility of carotenes in n-butane or n-hexane. In accordance with the simulations, the experiments show that the ratio α/β-carotene remains unchanged (about 35:65) using either n-butane or n-hexane. Nevertheless, the use of a pressurized flammable gas implies some safety precautions and so increases the price of the equipment, in comparison with classical extractions. But as a new process, some improvements will be done soon in order to get a safer and efficient process. But with comparable performances, the use of liquefied butane offers a new alternative to the classical extraction processes using hexane. Furthermore, the n-butane is an extraction solvent allowed by the European Union for the processing of food and food ingredients, without any restrictions (Directive 2009/32/EC – 23 April 2009). In that sense, the use of liquefied gas at low pressure and low temperature opens new possibilities and new market for the extraction of sensitive food ingredients.
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