IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF PATCHOULI (POGOSTEMON CABLIN BENTH.) OIL THROUGH PURIFICATION USING ACID-ACTIVATED ZEOLITE

• Main Author: Christy Rensi, Gloryana
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/75075
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Patchouli oil is one of the essential oils that have become one of Indonesia's leading commodities. This is due to the world's dependence on Indonesia's patchouli oil production, which contributes 85% of the world's patchouli oil demand. However, the distillation of patchouli oil in Indonesia is still mostly done in a simple manner, resulting in suboptimal oil quality, characterized by an acid number higher than 8, dark-colored oil, patchouli alcohol content of less than 30%, and specific gravity outside the range of 0.95 – 0.975. The substandard quality of patchouli oil leads to lower market value. In this research, purification of patchouli oil obtained through steam distillation was conducted, preceded by fermentation and shade drying pretreatment. Purification was carried out using zeolite activated by two types of acids, sulfuric acid (H2SO4), and hydrochloric acid (HCl). The purpose of this study was to improve the quality of patchouli oil through the purification process, utilizing acid-activated zeolite as an adsorbent. The results showed that the purification process improved the color of patchouli oil, making it brighter yellow, and reduced the acid number on zeolite activated with H2SO4 for fermented and shade-dried patchouli oil, by 7.69% and 11.54%, respectively. The specific gravity of the purified patchouli oil with acid-activated zeolite complied with the SNI (Indonesian National Standard) regulations. The patchouli alcohol content tended to decrease after purification, except for purification using HCl-activated zeolite on the shade-dried patchouli oil.