JP6151082B2 - Extraction and production method of plant essential oil - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for extracting and producing a plant essential oil. More specifically, the present invention relates to an efficient essential oil extraction / manufacturing method and a plant extract extraction / manufacturing method from plants such as citrus fruits, pericarp and vegetables.

  Plant-derived essential oils (essential oils) are characterized by the volatile aromatic components they contain (terpenes, aromatic compounds, etc.), so they are not only used as food ingredients (food fragrances) but also as cosmetic ingredients and aroma oil ingredients. It is diverse. Many pharmacological actions (relaxation effects, etc.) are also known, and various uses are expected to expand in the future.

  As a method for extracting and producing this plant-derived essential oil, a steam distillation method (Patent Document 1), a vacuum distillation method (Patent Document 2), a supercritical extraction method (Patent Document 3), a solvent extraction method and the like have been used. It has been. However, for example, the steam distillation method and the vacuum distillation method require a large amount of heat energy for recovering essential oil components, and are only suitable for production on a small scale due to problems of cost increase and deterioration of essential oil quality. In addition, the supercritical extraction method has a drawback that it is difficult to design a large-scale facility, which also leads to an increase in cost due to a small amount of preparation. Furthermore, the solvent extraction method is not versatile because the types of solvents that can be used are limited in consideration of food applications.

  In such a technical background, there has been a need in the art for the development of extraction and production methods that can be used for general purposes and that are simpler, more efficient, less expensive, and more, for essential oils derived from plants.

  On the other hand, ultra-high pressure water (water flow having a discharge pressure of about 20 to 300 MPa) has been conventionally known, and is mainly used for high-pressure cleaning and the like. For food use, it is used for the purpose of cutting food that is difficult to clean with ordinary cutters and knives, such as efficient and clean cutting of solid food (Patent Document 4) and cutting of pasty food (Patent Document 5). However, there are no examples of using it for extraction of plant essential oils.

JP 2005-298580 A JP 2004-018737 A JP 2005-213327 A JP 2007-296595 A JP-A-6-233668

  An object of the present invention is to provide a simpler and more efficient method for extracting and producing essential oils derived from plants (for example, citrus fruits and vegetables).

  In order to achieve the above object, as a result of intensive studies, the present inventors obtained a plant by crushing the plant with ultrahigh pressure water of 20 MPa or more at a flow rate of 20 to 40 L / min, and solid-liquid separation. By separating the essential oil and the plant extract by centrifugal separation of the liquid, it is possible to obtain a plant-derived essential oil and a plant extract very simply and efficiently, and there is no significant cost burden (the need for special production equipment, etc.) The present invention was completed.

That is, the embodiment of the present invention is as follows.
(1) The plant body is crushed with ultrahigh-pressure water with a discharge pressure of 20 MPa or more under conditions of a flow rate of 20 to 40 L / min, and the liquid obtained by solid-liquid separation is separated into essential oil and plant extract by centrifugation. A method for producing a plant-derived essential oil (extraction / manufacturing method).
(2) The method according to (1), characterized by treating with ultrahigh pressure water having a discharge pressure of 50 to 100 MPa (preferably 80 to 100 MPa).
(3) The method according to (1) or (2), characterized in that ultrahigh pressure water is sprayed in a curtain shape from a nozzle having a diameter of 0.5 to 1.0 mm and crushed.
(4) The plant body is at least one selected from citrus fruits and / or fruit peels, vegetables, and plant processing residues (fruit juice squeezed koji, vegetable koji, etc.) (1) to (3) The method as described in any one of these.
(5) The method according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the plant body is crushed in a state of being sliced to less than 1 cm (for example, about 0.5 to 0.8 cm). .

(6) The plant body is crushed with ultrahigh pressure water having a discharge pressure of 20 MPa or more under a flow rate of 20 to 40 L / min, and the liquid obtained by solid-liquid separation is separated into essential oil and plant extract by centrifugation. A method for producing a plant-derived extract (extraction / manufacturing method).
(7) The method according to (6), characterized by treating with ultrahigh pressure water having a discharge pressure of 50 to 100 MPa (preferably 80 to 100 MPa).
(8) The method according to (6) or (7), characterized in that ultra high pressure water is sprayed in a curtain form from a nozzle having a diameter of 0.5 to 1.0 mm and crushed.
(9) The plant body is at least one selected from citrus fruits and / or fruit peels, vegetables, and plant processing residues (fruit juice squeezed koji, vegetable koji, etc.) (6) to (8), The method as described in any one of these.
(10) The method according to any one of (6) to (9), wherein the plant body is crushed in a state of being sliced to less than 1 cm (for example, about 0.5 to 0.8 cm). .

  According to the present invention, the plant body is crushed to a cell level by crushing the plant body with ultrahigh pressure water having a discharge pressure of 20 MPa or more at a flow rate of 20 to 40 L / min, and this is solid-liquid separated. In the liquid obtained, the essential oil and the plant extract are in an emulsion state. Therefore, the essential oil and the plant extract can be easily and efficiently obtained simply by centrifugation. In the method of the present invention, since there is no process that takes a large amount of heat for a long time, there is almost no deterioration in the quality of the obtained essential oil and plant extract, and no special equipment such as a supercritical extractor is required. Another feature is that there is no restriction on the amount of preparation (a large amount of processing is possible and the cost burden is low).

  In the present invention, the plant is first used as an extraction raw material for essential oils and extracts. The plant body means at least one or more of all parts such as plant leaves, stems, roots, flowers, fruits (fruits), etc., and appropriately select a part containing a lot of essential oils depending on the type of plant. May be used. In the present invention, at least one selected from the fruits and / or peels of citrus fruits (mandarin oranges, oranges, citrus citrus fruits, grapefruits, etc.), vegetables, plant processing residues (fruit juice squeezed strawberries, vegetable strawberries, etc.). Is preferably used as a raw material.

  And it is preferable to make it the state which sliced the plant body used as a raw material to less than 1 cm (for example, about 0.5-0.8 cm) as pre-processing before extraction. As a result, the subsequent crushing treatment with ultra-high pressure water becomes more efficient and effective, but the presence or absence of the slice may be appropriately selected according to the type and state of the raw material.

  Next, the extraction raw material prepared as described above is crushed with ultra-high pressure water. The ultra-high pressure water is a water stream having a specific discharge pressure, but in the present invention, the discharge pressure needs to be 20 MPa or more, for example, about 20 to 300 MPa, and a preferable pressure range is 50 to 100 MPa, more preferably 80. ~ 100 MPa. The flow rate is preferably 20 to 40 L / min, and may be adjusted within this range according to the set pressure.

  The nozzle for discharging the ultrahigh pressure water is not limited, but the nozzle diameter is desirably 0.5 to 1.0 mm in order to maximize the effect. If the nozzle diameter is too large, the desired pressure setting and effect may not be obtained, which is not preferable. Moreover, it is suitable that the shape of the nozzle is a round linear shape. Then, it is desirable that the ultrahigh pressure water injection method from the nozzle to the plant body is performed by moving the nozzle or the plant body so that the plant body is sprayed in a curtain shape (wave shape) in consideration of crushing efficiency and the like. However, the nozzle shape and the injection method are not necessarily limited to these.

  The ultrahigh pressure water set in this way is sprayed onto the plant body on a conveyor or the like, and the plant body is crushed to the cell level. In this crushing treatment, crushing of the plant body and extraction of the essential oil and extract from the plant body (cell) are performed simultaneously. Therefore, in this invention, extraction processes (steam distillation process etc.) other than the said crushing process are not required. And the plant crushed material and water (the thing derived from a plant body and the thing derived from super-high pressure water) after a crushing process are set as the system or production line design which can collect | recover all.

  And the crushed material containing processing liquid collect | recovered after the crushing process is solid-liquid separated with a mesh etc., and an insoluble matter is removed. Since the essential oil component and the plant extract are in an emulsion state (emulsified state), the liquid from which the insoluble matter has been removed is separated into an oil layer and an aqueous layer by centrifugation. Centrifugation conditions may be set as appropriate depending on the state of the liquid, and examples include conditions of 1,000 to 3000 × g for about 5 to 20 minutes.

  The oil layer (essential oil) and the aqueous layer (plant extract) thus obtained may be used as final products as they are, and if necessary, they are finally subjected to clarification treatment such as filter filtration, concentration treatment, sterilization treatment, etc. Good as a product. These can also be used as raw materials for extraction and purification of further useful components (for example, plant polyphenols).

  In this way, by performing an ultra-high pressure treatment on a plant body, it is possible to easily and efficiently obtain an essential oil (essential oil) and a plant extract without obtaining harsh conditions as typified by heat and pressure extraction. The essential oils and plant extracts obtained are of high quality and low cost.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to these examples, and various modifications can be made within the technical idea of the present invention.

(Extraction of essential oils from mandarin oranges)
In order to confirm that essential oils and the like can be extracted by treating the mandarin orange (Wanzhou mandarin orange) with ultra-high pressure water, the following tests were conducted.

  Sliced Wenzhou mandarin fruit (including pericarp) to be less than 1 cm, and using 5 types of ultra-high pressure water set to 20MPa, 40MPa, 50MPa, 80MPa and 100MPa as the discharge pressure, the flow rate is 30L. Each crushing process was performed at / min. The ultra-high pressure water was sprayed from a 1 mm diameter round linear nozzle toward the plant body (sliced mandarin orange) in a curtain shape. The obtained crushed liquid was filtered through a mesh for solid-liquid separation, and the liquid part was centrifuged (1,500 × g, 10 minutes) to separate an oil layer and an aqueous layer.

  As a result, high quality mandarin flavor oil (oil layer) and citrus extract (water layer) could be obtained in any of the treatments. In particular, by treating with ultra-high pressure water having a discharge pressure of 50 MPa or more (50 MPa, 80 MPa, 100 MPa), the plant body (mandarin orange) is crushed very finely in a very short time, and very high quality essential oils and extracts are obtained. It became clear that

(Extract essential oil from carrot)
In order to confirm that essential oils and the like can be extracted by carrot ultra-high pressure water treatment, the following tests were conducted.

  Sliced carrot roots (including skin) to be less than 1 cm, and using 5 types of ultra-high pressure water with discharge pressure set to 20 MPa, 40 MPa, 50 MPa, 80 MPa, and 100 MPa. Each crushing process was performed at 30 L / min. The ultra-high pressure water was sprayed from a 1 mm diameter round linear nozzle toward the plant body (sliced carrot) in a curtain shape. The obtained crushed liquid was filtered through a mesh for solid-liquid separation, and the liquid part was centrifuged (1,500 × g, 10 minutes) to separate an oil layer and an aqueous layer.

  As a result, high quality carrot flavor oil (oil layer) and carrot extract (water layer) could be obtained in any of the treatments. In particular, by treating with ultra-high pressure water having a discharge pressure of 50 MPa or more (50 MPa, 80 MPa, 100 MPa), the plant body (carrot) is very finely pulverized in a very short time, and very high quality essential oils and extracts are obtained. It became clear that

  The present invention is summarized as follows.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a simpler and more efficient method for extracting and producing essential oils derived from plants (for example, citrus fruits and vegetables).

  The plant body is crushed with ultrahigh pressure water having a discharge pressure of 20 MPa or more (for example, 50 to 100 MPa) at a flow rate of 20 to 40 L / min. By separating plant extracts from plant extracts, plant-derived essential oils and plant extracts can be obtained very simply and efficiently, no special production equipment is required, and there is no large cost burden.

Claims (4)

Citrus fruits and fruit skins sliced to less than 1 cm, at least one selected from vegetables sliced to less than 1 cm, citrus fruit juice squeezed koji , and vegetable koji with ultra high pressure water at a discharge pressure of 50 to 100 MPa and a flow rate of 20 to 40 L / min The liquid is obtained by spraying from a nozzle having a diameter of 0.5 to 1.0 mm and crushing, and separating the liquid into solid and liquid to separate the essential oil and the plant extract by centrifugal separation. Essential oil production method.     The method according to claim 1, wherein ultra high pressure water is sprayed in a curtain form from a nozzle and crushed. Citrus fruits and fruit skins sliced to less than 1 cm, at least one selected from vegetables sliced to less than 1 cm, citrus fruit juice squeezed koji , and vegetable koji with ultra high pressure water at a discharge pressure of 50 to 100 MPa and a flow rate of 20 to 40 L / min The liquid is obtained by spraying from a nozzle having a diameter of 0.5 to 1.0 mm and crushing, and separating the liquid into solid and liquid to separate the essential oil and the plant extract by centrifugal separation. Extract manufacturing method. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein ultra high pressure water is sprayed in a curtain form from a nozzle and crushed.