Journal of Engineering Research and Studies

E-ISSN0976-7916

Research Paper

SEPARATION OF OIL AND PECTIN FROM ORANGE PEEL AND STUDY OF EFFECT OF pH OF EXTRACTING MEDIUM ON THE YIELD OF PECTIN
Shekhar Pandharipande*a, Harshal Makodeb

Address for Correspondence

*a- Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Laxminarayan Institute of Technology, Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Bharat Nagar, Amravati Road, Nagpur,India. b B. Tech student, Department of Chemical Engineering, Laxminarayan Institute of Technology, Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Bharat Nagar, Amravati Road, Nagpur, India. ABSTRACT
An orange, specifically, the sweet orange (Citrus sinensis (L.)) is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world. The present work addresses to the development of the part of the process needed for the extraction of value added products like orange oil and pectin from orange peel, which is the waste of orange juice processing industry. The outcome of the present work highlighted that the sweet orange peels are good source of orange oil and pectin and does have the potential to become important raw material for food processing industries. Two methods namely simple distillation & leaching have been explored for separation of oil from peels. The remains of cake in this part is further treated for isolation of pectin. It is found from the experimental observations that the peel source, for extraction of pectin, when taken after extracting orange oil through simple distillation gives higher yield than leaching residue. It is concluded that the process in which orange oil is first extracted using technique of simple distillation followed by acid extraction of pectin is most suitable for industrial production for isolation of pectin. These results demonstrate the successful extraction of orange oil and pectin, providing potential benefits for industrial extraction of pectin from an economic and environmental point of view. KEYWORDS orange peel, pectin extraction, orange essential oil

1.1 INTRODUCTION An orange, specifically, the sweet orange (Citrus sinensis (L.)) is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world. Orange trees are widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical climates for the sweet fruit, which is peeled or cut (to avoid the bitter rind) and eaten whole, or processed to extract orange juice, & also for the fragrant peel. Citrus fruits are at the top not only in total production, but also in economic value. The albedo is the main source of pectin. Pectin includes all the esterified polygalacturonic acids at different degree of neutralization. In the presence of saccharine and small quantities of organic acids (usually citric acid), pectins gelatinized, and this property is exploited by the agrochemistry and pharmaceutical industries for pectin isolation. Orange essential oil is present in small ductless gland contained in the peel of the orange fruits. The main constituent of orange peel essential oil is d-limonene (present to the extent of at least 90 %), which is the only hydrocarbon present. The d-limonene is extracted from orange rinds or solids. The rinds and pulp are sent to an evaporator and the d-limonene is steamed out. It is widely known for its pleasant scent and degreasing properties. d-limonene is currently being used in many applications such as chlorinated solvents replacements, hand cleaners and sewage treatments. The orange processing industry can get a complete makeover if due importance is given for separation of useful ingredient from orange peel. Researchers and Scientists have been working on the separation of oil and pectin from orange peel and reporting their findings in journals of repute. A brief summary includes orange peel: organic waste or energetic resource(1), Waste to wealth: Industrial raw materials potential of peels of Nigerian sweet orange (Citrus sinensis)(2), method of distilling a volatile constituent from liquid mixture(3), Optimization of pectin acid extraction from passion fruit peel (Passiflora edulis flavicarpa) using response surface methodology(4), Extraction and Qualitative Assessment of African Sweet Orange Seed Oil(5), JERS/Vol. III/ Issue II/April-June, 2012/06-09

Comparisons between different techniques for waterbased extraction of pectin from orange peels(6) , microwave-assisted Isolation of essential oil of Cinnamomum iners Reinw. ex Bl.: Comparison with Conventional hydrodistillation(7), Microwave-assisted extraction of pectin from orange peel(8), microbial production of pectin from Citrus peel(9), Optimization of Pectin Extraction from Peel of Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus)(10), Determining the Yield and Quality of Pectin from Fresh Peel & Pectin Pomace(11) and Microbial Production of Pectin from Citrus Peel(12) . The present work (13) explored the possibility of separation of essential oils and pectin from the orange peels. Nagpur is major orange producing centre in the subcontinent and even recognised in the name of oranges as, Orange city. 1.2 MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present work is divided into following parts: I. Separation of oil from peels. a) Using the method of simple distillation b) Using ethanol as solvent in the method of leaching II. Extraction of pectin from oil peels a) From fresh peels, the leftover b) From dried cake remained after simple distillation and leaching as in part I 1.2.1 Separation of oil from peels: Raw Material: The raw material taken under examination for the extraction of orange oil (d-limonene) and pectin is orange peel. Orange peels are removed from fresh oranges which are procured from local market and which were harvested in the month of December 2011 to January 2012. Methods: Simple distillation is employed for removal of essential oil from orange peel. Dried and fined ground orange peel powder is added with known quantity of water which is simple distilled off for approximately one hour. The solid remains of the residue are dried to obtain the dry cake. The distillate

Journal of Engineering Research and Studies resulted in to two phases, oil and water. Two phases are separated and orange oil is obtained. For 350 gm of orange powder taken, 8 ml of oil and 126.3 gm of dried cake is obtained. The method of leaching is also explored for removal of oil from peels. 380 gm of fresh orange peel are extracted with 225 ml of ethanol. After adequate contacting, two phases, solid and liquid are separated, 198 gm of wet slurry resulted into 150 gm of dry cake. However oil could not be recovered following this method. The dried cake obtained is further treated for separation of pectin in next part of present work. 1.2.2 Extraction of pectin from orange peels: The objective of this part of work is extraction and isolation of pectin from fresh orange peel sample and the dry cake sample left after extraction of oil using simple distillation as in part I. The objective includes the study of the effect of pH of the medium on the yield of pectin extracted. The process flow chart is as shown in the figure 1.

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Table no 1: Experimental observations of yield of pectin at different pH

Fig no 1: Process flow chart for extraction of pectin from orange peel sample Citric acid in distilled water solutions of desired pH values 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are prepared. Orange peel samples weighing 10 gm each are dipped in to the solution and heated at 800C for 10 minutes. After cooling the solution, it is filtered using cloth filter and Whatman filter paper under vacuum. Ethanol is added to the filtered solution to facilitate filtration of pectin. The solution is filtered using fine filter cloth or centrifuge at 8000 rpm for 15 min at 100C to separate jelly pectin which is dried under vacuum at 500C and -100 mmHg gauge for two hours. Dried pectin is thus obtained. The observations are given in table no 1. Yield % of pectin is based on the gram of peel sample taken, and is calculated by formula as given below;

Fig no 2: Pectin yield at different pH of extracting medium 1.2.2.1: Comparison of yield of pectin from the dry cake residue left after simple distillation and leaching: Same procedure is applied for separation of pectin in this part of present work, as followed in part 1.2.2.the observations are tabulated in table 2 & pictorial details & output of process are depicted in fig 3. Table no 2: Experimental observations of comparison of yield of pectin from the dry cake residue left after simple distillation and leaching

where Ypec (%) is the extracted pectin yield in per cent (%), P is the amount of dry pectin in g and Bi is the initial amount of orange peel in gram. Results and discussion: The maximum yield of pectin is obtained at extraction medium pH of 1. However negligible yield is obtained at pH of 4 and 5 as can be seen from graph plotted between pectin yield % obtained for various values of pH of medium as shown in fig 2. JERS/Vol. III/ Issue II/April-June, 2012/06-09

Journal of Engineering Research and Studies Result and discussion: The yield of pectin obtained is highest in turbid extract, but this might be due to some suspended impurities present in the extract. The maximum overall yield of the pectin is obtained from orange peel residue sample through simple distillation. Therefore, in the process of orange oil and pectin extraction from orange peel, it is recommended on basis of results obtained, that to first extract oil using simple distillation and then isolate pectin with acid hydrolysis technique. 1.3 CONCLUSION Nagpur region is well known in central Asia as largest orange producing region. It is also known as the California of India, producing excellent quality oranges in large number. Though it has great production of oranges, the downstream processing and value added product manufacturing technology is not yet developed. The present work is dedicated for

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the development of the part of the process technology needed for the extraction of value added products i.e. orange oil and pectin from orange peel, which is the waste of orange juice processing industry. The present work revealed that the sweet orange peels are good source of orange oil and pectin and does have the potential to become important raw material for food processing industries. It is found from the experimentation that the peel source, for extraction of pectin, when taken after extracting orange oil through simple distillation gives higher yield than leaching residue. So it can be concluded that the process in which orange oil is first extracted using technique of simple distillation followed by acid extraction of pectin is most suitable for industrial production. These results demonstrate the successful extraction of orange oil and pectin, providing potential benefits for industrial extraction of pectin from an economic and environmental point of view.

Fig no 3: Pictorial presentation of the process for comparison of yield of pectin from the dry cake residue left after simple distillation and leaching Amboni. (2009). optimisation of pectin acid extraction REFERENCES
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Comparison with Conventional Hydrodistillation. Molecules ISSN 1420-3049 8. Zheng Jie, Yang Ting, Wu Qiang, Li Jing, Wang YaNa. (2009). Microwave-assisted Extraction of Pectin from Orange Peel. Vol. 30, No. 20, p. 134-137. 9. P.Y. Tang, C.J. Wong and K.K. Woo. (2011). Optimization of Pectin Extraction from Peel of Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus). Asian Journal of Biological Sciences, ISSN 1996-3351, Knowledgia Review, Malaysia, 4 (2): 189-195. 10. P. G. Crandall, R. J. Braddock, and A. H. Rouse. (1978). Determining The Yield And Quality Of Pectin From Fresh Peel And Pectin Pomace. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 91:109-111. 11. Takuo Sakai & Minoru Okushima. (1998). Microbial Production of Pectin from Citrus Peel.Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 39, No. 4, p. 908912. 12. Harshal Makode (2012).Project report submitted for B Tech to Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University,Nagpur.

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JERS/Vol. III/ Issue II/April-June, 2012/06-09