Abstract
Efficacy of KMnO4 on processing red florets of dyer's saffron was examined in the presence of micromolar concentrations of the metal salts. Apparent value for KMnO4 determined by double-reciprocal plots was 126 µM, whose value corresponds to a 1/154-fold of dried florets. Successful extraction of red carthamin was performed by using the processed matters with various solvent systems. HCl/NaOH, acetic acid/ammonia water and pyridine/methanol were found to be effective. For purification of carthamin, the cellulose adsorption technique was very promising. The data are assessed to standarize the new technique.
Keywords
dyer's saffron; raw floret; chemical processing