D.V.S. Abeysinghe
Process Optimization to Extract Oleoresin and Essential Oil from the Leaves of Allspice [Pimenta dioica (L.) Merill.] and Screening of Its Essential Oil Composition, Antioxidant Capacity and Potential to Develop New Products
Duration
3 months
Funding Agency
STAY Naturals Private Limited.
Leader
Prof. B.E.P Mendis
Investigators
R.P.N.P Rajapakse, T. Rengaraj and U.K.S.K. De Silva
A century ago, the Western world was so attracted to Sri Lanka because of its valuable spices. Among those apices, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Clove had the priority. Allspice [Pimenta dioica (L.)] is an evergreen plant that consists of both the aroma and the flavor of the above 4 spices. This plant is native to the North American sub-continent. Powdered dried berries are traditionally used as a condiment. But there is a huge potential in the leaves as well. Constituents of this plant have been researched for therapeutic effects on these non-communicable diseases, like Reduction of depression, good androgen receptor for prostate cancers in males, Mental relaxing ability during mensural periods in females, etc.
Oleoresins are semi-solid extracts from plants that contain resin and essential oil components which were obtained from the evaporation of the extraction solvent. There is a huge interest in the current world to extract oleoresins from plants because they can be used for high-end products and for therapeutic values.
By using oleoresins, the product quality can be maintained, less amount of storage facilities are needed, the shelf life can be extended, and, only minute quantities are needed. If Sri Lanka goes for product development using this OR we can get a lot of foreign income to GDP.
The overall objective of my study is to Extraction, identification, and quantification of Essential oil & Oleoresins from allspice plants to explore the commercial feasibility of product development.
Extraction of essential oils and oleoresins was done for several leaf positions. The Latest and well-calibrated analytical instruments were used to analyze the extracted essential oils and oleoresins. The research was funded by STAY Naturals (pvt) Ltd. Three new food products were formulated, and the sensory evaluation was conducted in the sensory evaluation facility in the Department of food science and Technology, faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya.
