Effects of Steam Explosion on Curcumin Extraction from Fresh Turmeric Chips

The purpose of this research is to study the effect of the steam explosion (SE) process on curcumin extraction from fresh turmeric chips. Fresh turmeric chips abruptly disintegrated during the steam explosion process. The investigation into the turmeric particles following the steam explosion process in the SEM micrographs revealed that the formation of surface cracks and cavities led to an increase in the surface area of turmeric particles. Curcumin extracted from turmeric particles after the steam explosion process yielded 3.24% (w/w), which was comparable to the yield of 3.98% (w/w) from finely ground turmeric particles, while the steam explosion used 74% less energy than the grinding process. Therefore, the steam explosion process is an efficient process compared to untreated and conventional mechanical grinding methods. On average, the turmeric particles decreased in size when the dissipated energy per mass increased. The curcumin yield from the steam explosion exhibited a linear positive correlation with the dissipated energy per mass. FTIR, TG/DTG, and DSC analyses on the turmeric particles after the steam explosion process showed that the compounds exhibited no change in chemical structure, higher thermal decomposition properties, and higher purity, respectively. The results of this research can be applied to find optimal conditions for extracting curcumin and predicting the yield of curcumin. Additionally, they can be applied to evaluate the process condition in commercial applications.