Abstract
Pfaffia glomerata, which is so-called as Brazilian ginseng, is widely cultivated in South American countries such as Brazil, Ecuador, and Panama. The roots of this plant are used as a Brazilian folk medicine as tonic and for the treatment of diabetes. Since the extract from the roots of P. glomerata has been reported to possess similar effects to ginseng (Panax spp.), large amounts of this plant material are being exported to Japan for production of their extracts. Taking into account the important economical role of adding value to Brazilian ginseng roots in Brazil this study was done. SuperPro Designer 6.0® was used to develop an energetically viable scheme for the production of dry Brazilian ginseng roots extract. Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) using water as extracting solvent followed by concentration and spray drying steps were employed to produce dry extracts. Additionally, the use of the solid residue from the proposed extraction process as a fuel to produce electricity and steam to fulfill the energetic requirements of the dry extract production process was evaluated. An overall process-yield of approximately 25.6 % employing the experimental extraction yield obtained of 40.5 %w.b. was estimated, which corresponds to 92.1 t of dry Brazilian ginseng roots extract produced per year and to 124.7 t of residue employing 360 t of fresh raw material. Since the utilization of only the residue from extraction (roots previously extracted) showed not to be attractive, the use of the aerial parts also as fuel was also evaluated. It was determined that an amount of 49.3 % of the total amount of aerial parts left in the field during the harvest of the roots is necessary to fulfill the energy requirements of the dry extract production for the proposed process. A moderate pay-back time of 3 years and 9 months to recover the cost of investment (US$ 117,694.44) was obtained for the installation of a cogeneration plant.
