Extração de óleo essencial e fixo da amêndoa da castanha de caju (Anacardium occidentale L.) e do tegumento

Abstract

The processing of cashew nuts is an activity that has great economic and social importance in the cashew production chain. In the Northeast region it is responsible for more than 300 thousand jobs, distributed in agricultural, industrial and service activities. In manipulation, most almonds break 40% in the mechanized system and 20% in the manual, so the price of broken nuts in the trade balance is greatly devalued, oils can be extracted from broken nuts adding value to the cashew production chain. In the processing of cashew nut kernels, the tegument or film is waste generated from this raw material, is a by-product seen as undesirable waste that does not meet the environmental appeal, bringing problems to the areas that benefit the kernel. In view of the explanation, this work had the objective of extracting the fixed and essential oil from the broken and crushed almonds from the cashew nut and from the integument that covers it, aiming at industrial scale production, as well as developing the flowchart of the production process, the simplified layout, demonstrating the mass and energy balances that comprise the process, making an economic analysis with emphasis on the unit cost of the final product. The physical-chemical characterization of the sample of cashew nut flour (FCC) of whole weight, the results are analogous to those obtained by other researchers. In thin-layer chromatography, the Rf calculation of the analyzed oil fractions indicates that in addition to the concentrated oil, in the ascending line there are other constituents that could not ascend. Based on the data obtained and estimated, it can be inferred that the extraction of essential oil and fixed oil from the cashew nut kernel and the integument is feasible.