Study on important parameters affecting the hydro-distillation for ginger oil production

Abstract

Ginger or its scientific name Zingiber officinale Roscoe are extensively used globally for food flavourings, condiments, fragrances, aromatherapy and pharmaceuticals. There are two main products from ginger; (i) ginger oleoresin and (ii) ginger oil. Currently, there are a few conventional and modern methods of extracting essential oils such as by hydrodistillation, supercritical fluid extraction and microwave extraction. Hydro-distillation is the oldest and most common method of extracting essential oil since it is economically viable and safe. In this research, studies were done to identify the ideal operational conditions involved in the extraction of ginger oil by hydro-distillation; steam and water distillation. Work done in this research identified that the ideal operating conditions involved were the temperature (1000C) and pressure (1 atm) of the operating vessel, sample type (ground and 90% dryness), extraction method (steam distillation), extraction time (4 hrs), ratio of water : ginger (7L:400g), packing height (1cm) and tray height (4.5cm) based on the yield of the ginger oil. From the vapour pressure study, the boiling point of ginger oil is 141.00C and the boiling point of the mixture is 97.50C. Through analysis of ginger oil using the Differential Scanning Calorimeter, the Cp value starts to decrease at 85.80C and this means that the ginger oil starts to decompose at this point. At the end of this research, some recommendations were given in improving the current equipment used in Malaysia for the extraction of ginger oil and help boost the Malaysian herbal industry.