Optimized Method for Curcumin Separation from Turmeric Oleoresin

Abstract

<em>In this work, a novel and modified method for the solvent purification of Curcumin is presented, a composite of normal hexane & 2-propanol solvents was used to separate the fat content and other impurities. The process was modeled considering the response surface methodology as described by the central composite design. The adjusted R-squared was 0.9443 indicating the variation between the regressors (solvent composition, solvent-to-oleoresin ratio, and temperature) in relation to the selected responses (product purity and process yield) were well described by the constructed model. Optimum conditions were 90% w/w 2-propanol in the solvent, 1.5 solvent-to-oleoresin weight ratio and 5°C temperature with predicted 95.94% purity and 35.77% yield, F values were significant for both models. Therefore, the development of high purity products is achievable with this novel method with economic advantages.</em>