Pengaruh Cara dan Lama Pengeringan Terna Nilam Terhadap Rendemen dan Mutu Minyak Nilam

Abstract

One of problems of patchouli oil industry in Indonesia were the yield and the quality of patchouli oil that were still low. One of factors that affect the yield and the quality of patchouli oil is drying of patchouli herb before distillation. The research aim are to determine the effect of drying method and drying time on the yield and the quality of patchouli oil. The experimental design used in this study was factorial completely randomized design of (3 x 4) factosr with two replication. Factors used were the method of drying (dried patchouli without sunlight for 9 days, patchouli were dried in the sun for 2 hours and then aerated for 8 days, patchouli were dried in the sun for 4 hours then aerated for 5 days, patchouli were dried in the sun for 6 hours and then aerated for 4 days) and placement during drying (floor, shelf and hanging). Method of drying and drying time significantly affected moisture content of patchouli herb, refractive index, specific gravity, acid number, ester number and solubility in alcohol of patchouli oil, but its did not give significant effect on the yield, color, and optical rotation of patchouli oil. The longer of drying time tends to cause bulk density, optical rotation, and acid number of patchouli oil are increase, but the water content, solubility in alcohol, and ester number of patchouli oil are decreases. The best treatment in this research was drying of patchouli herb on the shelf and dried in the sun for 4 hours then aerated for 5 days, with the yield of 2.99%, water content of 15.12%, oil color is yellow, bulk density of 0.9676, refractive index of 1.5090, optical rotation of (-) 57.78, soluble in alcohol 90% with a ratio of 1:4, acid number of 2.239, ester number of 13.141, and patchouli alcohol content of 39.54%.