PROCESS FOR OBTAINING AN EXTRACT OF SAFFRON

Abstract: The process comprises subjecting the stigmas of the saffron flower to the operative phases of dehydration, trituration by grinding, triple stirring and heating with a mixture of de-ionized water / 96° alcohol , filtering the resultant miscellas and concentration under vacuum and low temperature conditions in order to obtain a liquid extract with solids comprised between 2 and 3%; from said liquid extract a solid or powdery extract is obtained through dehydration by lyophilisation, sublimation under 0°C, pouring and heating at temperature lower than 38°C and resting. This extract can be used as a substitute for saffron and artificial dyes.

Description: I he present invention consists of a process for obtaining an extract of saffron, which provides new essential characteristics as compared to those known in and similar to the present state of the art. The invention has developed a process for obtaining an extract of saffron both in a liquid and in a solid state which makes possible a better comercilization an presentation of this product since this method reduces the manufacturing price as well as improves the quality both in the aroma and colouring of saffron. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Presently, du to the rise in the costs of manufacturing, manipulation and distribution of the saffron the comercialization of the stigmas of saffron flower are being replaced by the comercialization of extracts of such stigmas. The extracts of stigmas of saffron flower are currently obtained by a complicated, slow and expensive proceeding by means of leaching and evaporation, which increases the price of the final product. Besides at present, it is also known the artificial dyes commonly named "tartracina" which hasn't got the qualities of the extract obtained from saffron itself and specifically from the stigmas of its flower. A known process comprises repeated extraction using ethanol-water (50% v/v) followed by filtration using a 0,7 µm filter with subsequent freeze-drying and storage at -20°C (Iborra et al., 1992, J Food Sci; 57(3), 714-716,731 ). DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention consists of a process for obtaining an extract of saffron both in a solid and in a liquid state, from the stigmas of the saffron flower. Such method generally consists of submiting the stigmas of saffron to a serie of operative phases specifically dehydration, trituration by grinding, mixing with de-ionized water/ 96° alcohol , filtration and concentration under vacuum at a low temperature, obtaining the liquid extract of saffron. Another characteristic of the process, object of the present invention is to get solid extract from saffron starting from the liquid extract before mentioned, by means of the operating phases or dehydration by lyophilisation of the liquid extract, followed by emptying and DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The process for obtaining an extract of saffron, object of the present invention consists of submiting the stigmas of the saffron flower to the following operative phases: a)- Dehydration. b)- Trituration by means of grinding to a size under 4 mm. c)- Addition of a mixture (in proportion 1:1) of de-ionized water/ 96° alcohol in a proportion of 16 litres per 1 kilogram of grinded stigmas. d)- The mixture is stirred and heated for 2 hours. e)- The mixture is filtered obtaining the enriched miscella in active product, the stigmas are mixed and stirred again with the mixture of de-ionized water/ 96° alcohol (1:1) for 2 hours. f)- The mixture is filtered extracting the miscella of the previous operation and proceeding to mix and stirr the stigmas again with de-ionized water/96° alcohol (1:1) for an hour. g)- The miscella obtained in the previous operation is filtered. h) 8.- All previous obtained miscellas are filtered through tubes of 5 µm, eliminating impurities. i) 9.- The obtained miscellas are concentraded under vacuum at a low temperature not higher than 40 °C, in order to obtain liquid extracts with solids comprised between 2 and 3%. This liquid extract obtained in this way, has a composition of 8 kilograms of extract by each kilogram of used estigmas of saffron. The obtained product, is a liquid with a high colorant power and the characteristic aroma of saffron, which is totaly soluble in water and also easy to dose on colouring the different meals, since 1 ml. or 2 ml. are enough to give the food the wanted dye and aroma. Another object of the present invetion is the obtention of a solid extract from the liquid extract obtained in the aforementioned operative phases. Specifically the obtained liquid extract, is submited to the following operative phases: A.- Dehydration by lyophilisation, freezing the liquid extract at - 50 °C. B.- Vacuum sublimation under 0 °C, eliminating the contained water. C.- Emptying and heating at a temperature lower than 38 °C, to eliminate the residual humidity, without losing its aroma or its colorant power D.- Resting of the resulting solid product for 48 hours. The obtained product is a solid extract, specifically powdered extract, with aproximately a proportion of usable material of 50%, that is to say, from a kilogram of stigmas of saffron 0,5 kilograms of solid or powdered extract is obtained. The obtained solid or powdered extract, has a high colorant power, so it must be mixed with a base of "maltodextrina", so that it can be dosed in one-use envelopes, according to the different dyes which the different meals or foods must have . With the obtained extracts, both in a solid and in a liquid state, the use of saffron is simplified, because it is not necessary to grind the threads of saffron before its use,and besides a colourant of the natural kind is obtained, which offers great advantages with respect to the use of the artificial and commonly used colorant denominated "Tartracina''.

Claims: Process for obtaining an EXTRAT OF SAFFRON wherein stigmas of the saffron flower are submited to the following operative phases: a)- Dehydratation. b)- Trituration by means of grinding to a size under 4 mm. c)- Addition of a mixture in proportion 1:1 of de-ionized water/alcohol 96° in a ground proportion of 16 litres per 1 kilogram of ground stigmas. d)- The mixture stirred and heated for 2 hours. e)- The mixture is filtered obtaining the enriched miscella in active product, the stigmas are mixed and stirred again with a mixture in proportion of 1.1 of de-ionized water/alcohol 96° for 2 hours. f)- The mixture is filtered extracting the miscella of the previous operation and proceeding to mix and stirr the stigmas again with a mixture of in proportion of 1:1 de-ionized water/alcohol 96° for an hour. g)- The miscella obtained in the previous operation is filtered. h)- All previous obtainded miscellas are filtered through tubes of 5 µm, eliminating impurities. i)- The obtained miscellas are vacuum concentrated at a low temperature not higher than 40 °C, to obtain a liquid with solid contents. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that the obtained liquid extract is submited to the following dperative phases to obtain solid or powder extract: A.- Lyophilisation by freezing the liquid extract at - 50°C. B.- Vacuum sublimation under 0 °C, eliminating the contained water. C.- Emptying and heating at a temperature under 38 °C, to eliminate the residual humidity, without losing its aroma or its colorant power. D.- Resting the resulting solid product for 48 hours. Process according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that the obtained liquid extract contains between 2% and 3% of solids.

Inventors: GARCIA FERNANDEZ EUFRASIO, GARCIA FERNANDEZ, EUFRASIO
Applicants: AZAFRAN LOS MOLINOS DE LA MANC, AZAFRAN LOS MOLINOS DE LA MANCHA, S.L.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: B01D11
IPC codes: A23L1