Agro-industrial co-products upcycling: Recovery of carotenoids and fine chemicals from Citrus sp. juice industry co-products
2022
Myrtsi, Eleni D. | Koulocheri, Sofia D. | Evergetis, Epameinondas | Haroutounian, Serkos A.
Cold Press Essential Oil (CPEO) of Citrus fruits, a co-product of juice-making industry, is investigated herein as a sustainable source of high added value industrial products exploring for first time its potentials for simultaneous carotenoid and fine chemicals isolation. Main obstacle towards this target is the physical and chemical properties differentiation of the main CPEO ingredients. To overcome it three different separation approaches were tested on orange, lemon, and tangerine CPEOs. The results indicated as most potent the novel procedure of negative pressure azeotropic condensation, which achieved yields of carotenoid crude extract consistently above 3% in all CPEOs, (lemon: 3.2%, orange 3.9%, tangerine: 5.2%). In addition, their total carotenoid content was found to excel in recovery rates after the volatiles removal, achieving 68% in tangerine, 85% in orange, and 38% in lemon. Tangerine CPEO was further processed, concluding to the pilot scale isolation of β-cryptoxanthin, which is presented herein for first time. In specific, the application of this process yielded 1.07% of pure all-trans-β-cryptoxanthin and 95.08% D-limonene, proving the feasibility and sustainability of the proposed protocol. This paradigm of circular economy regards the transformation of a low value industrial co-product into two high added value fine chemicals. In specific, the added value of the crude tangerine CPEO, with a commercial price 7 euros per litre, after the separation and recovery of limonene and β-cryptoxanthin is significantly increased as suggested by the cumulative price of 14 270 euros per litre for both isolates (limonene: 270 euros, β-cryptoxanthin:14 000 euros).
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