Extraction of Lovage (<i>Levisticum officinale </i>Koch.) Roots by Carbon Dioxide. 1. Effect of CO₂ Parameters on the Yield of the Extract

Abstract

This paper describes the experiments on sub- and supercritical CO2 extraction of lovage (Levisticum officinale) root to determine the effect of CO2 parameters on the yield of the extract. Two series of extractions were carried out: first, to establish the effect of CO2 pressure and temperature; second, to determine the dynamics of the extraction at constant temperature. With pressure varied from 80 to 300 bar and temperature varied from +10 to +55 °C, it was found that the best result was at 50 °C and 200 bar. During the second series the temperature was kept at 50 °C and the extracts were collected at various stages of extraction process at the pressures from 80 to 350 bar. It was found that the yield of the extract increases when the pressure is raised from 80 to 200 bar; however, further increase of the pressure to 350 bar was not efficient. Keywords: Lovage root; Levisticum officinale Koch.; supercritical CO2 extraction; extract yield