The investigation ofdifferent extraction techniques to extract gaharu oil

• Main Author: Mahamod, Abdul Mudzil
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS 2009
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/9168/1/2009%20-%20The%20Investigation%20of%20Different%20Extraction%20Techniques%20to%20Extract%20Gaharu%20Oil.pdf; http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/9168/

Gaharu or agarwood, scientifically known as aquilaria malaccensis, is one of the most expensive woods in the world. Analysts have differentiated the quality of gaharu based on its commercial grade, at which it ranges from A Super, A, B and C. Due to it rarity and high demand, agarwood extract (gaharu oil) brings high prices. The price is around RM 30 000 per litre for lower grade and superior grades could be priced up to RM 60 000 per litre. It is anticipated that the prices of gaharu will remain high in the future because of the high demand for gaharu material in Arabic countries, introduction of new applications for gaharu materials in the cosmetic industry and the traditional users ofgaharu in China, Japan and India for manufacturing joss-sticks and other. Traditionally, gaharu oil is extracted by distilling the grinded gaharu sample in a copper still. However, the process is less effective as the yield of oil is relatively small and it acquires high temperature. This project is mainly about investigating the alternatives to traditional hydro distillation to extract gaharu oil. Experiments are to be conducted to study the effectiveness of ultrasonic technology, microwave technology, solvent extraction and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) in terms of oil yield and other related parameters. Proposed methodology is carried out to accomplish the aims ofthe project. Three extraction methods were selected, namely as solvent extraction and ultrasonic extraction, and steam distillation as control. The gaharu chips were initially grinded into small particles and mixed with different type of solvent for extraction. For solvent extraction, petroleum ether is not suitable used as solvent at specified temperature (35°C) due to its dissimilarity in polarity as the chemical compounds for the raw material obtained were mainly sesquiterpenes. For ultrasonic extraction, the highest oil yield recovery is 0.1% at 100% power output of ultrasonic bath with temperature of 50±2°C. Several modifications on the parameters experimented need to be done to produce higher oil yield recovery. iv