Enzymetic Degradation of Turmeric Rhizome for the Extraction of Essential Oil

Abstract

Turmeric is one of the spices found in India. It has been used as flavoring, seasoning, and medicinal purpose from ancient time. Turmeric rhizomes were pretreated by five enzymes namely cellulase, pectinase, diastase, xylose, and lipase to obtain the turmeric oil. The operating temperature and pre-treatment time were optimized as incubation period four hours and five and half hour for the present work. It has been observed that all the enzymes are capable to degrade the turmeric rhizomes. The turmeric oil was obtained by hydrodistillation of the pre-treated rhizomes.The maximum and minimum oil yield were obtained in case of cellulose and lipase respectively. The maximum turmeric oil yield was obtained as 2.8 % and minimum yield of 0.7% and the minimum turmeric oil yield were obtained in case of lipase. The GC-MS is techniques used for the analysis of the turmeric oil. The major components of the turmeric oil are Monoterpenoid, Santalane, Bisabolane, Sesquiterpene, Bergamotane, Cedrane, Sesquisabinane, etc.