EXTRACTION OF ESSENTIAL OIL FROM CURCUMA LONGA

Turmeric or its scientific name Curcuma Longa has been used for preparing traditional Indian curries for hundreds of years as a flavor, color and preservative. Turmeric has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antitumor, antiviral activities and anticancer activity and is used in gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders. In this study, a solvent extraction method has been used to extract active compound which was curcumin in Curcuma Longa. Ethanol has been used as solvent to extract the curcumin. Rotary evaporator was used to purify the sample. The samples were put in rotovap at temperatures 40°C, 50°C, 60°C and 70°C. HPLC analysis showed that all of the samples had high percentage of curcumin. The antioxidant activity in 50°C curcumin extract showed the highest antioxidant activity with 24.968 M IC50 value while the lowest was the 70°C curcumin extract with 111.93 M IC50 value. The higher the IC50 value, the lower the antioxidant activity.