ACCESS. II - CURCUMIN EXTRACTION Marta G. da Silva

I - EVALUATION OF CURCUMIN LEVELS FROM DIFFERENT TURMERIC (Curcuma longa L.)
ACCESS. II - CURCUMIN EXTRACTION
Marta G. da Silva*, Joaquim A. de Azevedo Filho**, José B. Pinheiro***, Mario S. Sigrist***, Maria I.
Zucchi***, Fabrício W. da Rocha*, Raisa N. L. Oliva*, Paulo R. N. Carvalho*, *Institute of Food
Technology - ITAL, Avenida Brasil 2880, 13070-178, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil; **Regional East
Paulista Center- APTA; ***School of Agriculture Luiz de Queiroz.
Even though Brazil is a large turmeric producer, the national production and quality still remains lower
than other countries such as India, the world’s largest producer. In this way, studies to improve both the
quality of the product and the production process should be developed. In addition, the acquirement of
pure pigment (curcumin), without the characteristic resin oil flavor, to render it suitable for use in food and
clinical trials is required. Thus, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the concentration of
curcumin in 32 turmeric accesses from two different crops and to study the curcumin extraction process.
The results showed a significant difference (P=95%) in curcumin, lipids and resin oil levels among
samples, indicating that provenance and culture conditions are important parameters to be considered in
the rhizome quality. Temperature and particle size also played an important role during the resin oil
extraction process, giving crystallized curcumin with an overall yield of 65%. FAPESP