Utilization of Wasted Cooking Oil and Essential Oil of Sweet Orange Peel (Citrus sinensis) as Aromatherapy Candles

Abstract. Utilizations of waste cooking oil can be projected to be candles. Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) peel, considering the large amount of this abandoned waste, also can be utilized as essential oil. This research was conducted to examine the production of aromatherapy candles by purifying the wasted cooking oil and adding the sweet orange peel essential oil. Steam distillation method was used to extract essential oils by determining the effect of raw material conditions on the yield obtained. The essential oils obtained from fresh peel was 1.87% of yield with 94.37% limonene, while dry one was 2.16% yield with 94.67% limonene by GC-MS analysis. Adsorption method by activated carbon was carried out to purify the wasted cooking oil as candle materials, varied by 7%, 10%, and 13% mass of activated carbon. The addition of the highest mass of activated carbon gave the lowest absorbance and indicated that the purified oil was the brightest. Utilization of refined wasted oil was mixed with stearin and sweet orange peel essential oil of 2%, 4%, and 6% by weight as aromatherapy candle product. Characteristics of candle was investigated by analyzing the melting point, burning time, organoleptic, and preference test for respondents and resulted that all characters meet Indonesian National Standard. Purification of wasted cooking oil varied by activated carbon mass influenced the color of the candles. The addition of essential oils influenced the smell, melting point and burning time of candle, the essential oil addition makes lower melting point and faster burning time.Keywords:Aromatherapy Candles, Sweet Orange Peel Essential Oil, Wasted Cooking Oil