Isolation of a Volatile Concentrate of Caraway Seed

Abstract

A volatile concentrate of caraway seeds was isolated by supercritical C0₂ extraction coupled to a fractional separation technique. GC/MS analysis of the various fractions obtained at different extraction and fractionation conditions allowed the identification of the operating conditions to isolate the volatile concentrate. A good extraction performance was obtained operating at 90 bar and 50°C. The optimum fractionation was achieved by operating at 90 bar and -12°C in the first separator and at 10 bar and 17°C in the second. The influence of the extraction time on the composition was evaluated. A comparison with the hydrodistilled oil was also proposed.