PATCHOULI Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth. ESSENTIAL OIL: SFE YIELD AND HARVEST SEASONS

摘要

The Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) of Patchouli [Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth.] essential oil has been studied. In this paper, the effects of harvest seasons about SFE yield were investigated. Patchouli is a tropical perennial herb that originates in Southeast Asia, but now grows manly in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Brazil and others. Patchouli oil is a viscous, pale to dark amber brown coloured liquid and is extensively used in perfumery. Its main components are sesquiterpenes (40-45%), sesquiterpenoid alcohols (30-35%) and others. The patchouli leaves (raw material) was collected always in first hours of sunny days. Immediately, it was taken to the Process Control Laboratory, at EQA/UFSC, where it was dried at 30°C and 120 h. Then, the raw material was fractioned in a grounder and it was classified in a sieve shaker. One fixed bed extractor (length 50.0 cm, inner diameter 2.1 cm) was packed manually with 50g, approximately. The SFE was carried out at 100 bar and 32°C by 7 hours, with one hour of static period. The solvent used was CO_2 supercritical fluid. These conditions were performed according. The results were analysed in terms of yield (g essential oil/g patchouli), varying the raw material harvest seasons (winter 2006 and 2007, fall 2007). The yield values of SFE carried out were in 2006 winter (3.13%), in 2007 winter (5.94%) and 2007 fall (5.06%). Mass transfer by diffusion of CO_2 on patchouli is a slowly step and govern the first minutes of process. The amount of patchouli and its pack inside extractor control the time of extraction and the diffusion. However, information on the influence time of photo-period and harvest seasons are important to evaluate the process and its yield. The composition of patchouli essential oil was analyzed using GC-MS and FID systems which showed the presence of main components (sesquiterpenes and sesquiterpenoid alcohols).