Highly Efficient Ginger Extraction by Sonication

• Ultrasonic extraction of essential oils and active compounds from ginger convinces by high efficiency and high yields.
• Ultrasonic extraction is a mild, non-thermal process which yields in high quality extracts.
• Whilst other extraction methods are limited in their upscaling capability, sonication can be completely linear scaled to any industrial production level.

Ginger Extraction

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) contains a high amount of active compounds such as essential oils, [6]-gingerol, oleoresins and other bioactive phytochemicals, which are desired substances due to their taste, odour, and pharmacological effects.
To use the active compounds of ginger, they must be released from the ginger root (rhizome) by extraction. Conventional extraction methods for ginger, such as steam distillation or solvent extraction have several drawbacks: They are known to be time consuming, need large amounts of chemical solvents and have limited process capability.

Ultrasonic Gingerol Extraction

Ultrasonic extraction is a non-thermal method based on the principle of cavitation, high shear forces and microturbulences that break cell walls mechanically, simultaneously facilitating the release of cellular constituents of plant material into the solvent without chemical degradation. The mild process temperatures save the desired extracts (e.g. antioxidants, polyphenols, etc.) from thermal degradation. Furthermore, the ultrasonically-assisted extraction can be often carried out in aqueous solvents (= water). The avoidance of organic solvents (e.g. acetone, hexane) is especially important for the extraction of compounds which are later incorporated into food and pharmaceutical products.
Sonication has been used to extract functional components from many different plant and tissue matrices. It is proven to be more rapid than conventional extraction techniques.

Superior Extract Quality

Extraction by power ultrasonics has advantages over other traditional extraction techniques, which are often limited to small volumes. Ultrasonic extraction can be carried out as batch or inline process using a flow cell. The intense ultrasonic forces perforate or break the cell matrix so that all intracellular material is fast and easily released, so that a maximum yield is extracted. The versatility of the ultrasound equipment ensures a simple and easy procedure, the required solvent can be substituted by water or the solvent amount can by remarkably reduced. Furthermore, a mild temperature and short extraction time prevent the active compounds against degradation so that a high quality extract with pharma / food grade is obtained.

Hielscher Ultrasonics Equipment

Hielscher Ultrasonics supplies powerful, reliable ultrasonic systems for bench-top, pilot plant and full industrial processing of any volume. Our robust ultrasonic systems can be used for batch and inline processing. Easy and precise control over all process parameters ensure consistently high extract quality and high process efficiency.
The table below gives you an indication of the approximate processing capacity of our ultrasonicators:

Literature / References