Micronization of Curcuma xanthorrhiza Extract with Addition of PVP Using Supercritical CO₂ as Anti-solvent

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Kampus ITS, Sukolilo, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia
² Department of Materials Process Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8063, Japan

^* Corresponding author: machmudah@chem-eng.its.ac.id

Abstract

Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb, known as Temulawak or Javanese ginger, is a plant species. Its rhizomes are used as a medicinal herb. It contains curcumin as an active compound and ethereal oils mainly consisted of sesquiterpenes. In this work, Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb ethanolic extract was micronized with an addition of PVP using supercritical antisolvent (SAS) method. The ethanolic extract was obtained from dried Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb using soxhletation. For the micronization, the extracted compound solvent was a mixture of acetone and ethanol (90:10 (v/v)), while the supercritical CO2 was used as an antisolvent. The effect of operating conditions on the particle size and morphology was evaluated. Through this method, spherical Curcuma xanthorrhiza/PVP particles with mean diameter ranging from 191 ± 70 nm to 178 ± 57 nm were successfully formed. The particle size not significantly decreased as the pressure increased from 8 12 MPa. The addition of PVP is very effective to reduce the particle size, increase the solubility, and enhance the bioavailability of Curcuma xanthorrhiza extract. This work has the potential to improve the use of Curcuma xanthorrhiza in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications.