Turmeric press residue – a high-value by-product of turmeric juice powder

Turmeric press residue is an industrial by-product obtained after the extraction of turmeric juice in theprocess of making turmeric juice powder. In the present study turmeric press residues from four varieties ofturmeric viz. Chintapalli (1-year crop), Chintapalli (2-year crop), IISR-Pragathi and IISR-Prabha were studied forvarious quality parameters. The dry recovery of the press residue varied from 8.07 to 9.70% based on initialmass of fresh turmeric while it varied from 14.52 to 20.61% based on the mass of press residue obtained afterjuice extraction. The moisture content of dry turmeric press residue varied from 7.98 to 8.21%. The essentialoil content of the turmeric press residues for varieties Chintapalli (1-year crop), Chintapalli (2-year crop),IISR-Pragathi and IISR-Prabha was 5.86, 6.30, 5.06 and 5.33%, respectively. The oleoresin content was 9.66,11.92, 10.76 and 15.53%, respectively and the corresponding curcumin content was 3.28, 3.26, 5.13 and 5.21%,respectively. GC-MS analysis revealed that the major volatile oil constituents in the essential oil extracted fromturmeric press fibre were ar-turmerone, turmerone, curlone, β-se squiphellandrene and zingiberene.