CHEMISTRY

INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
BY:
NEIL VAZ
DARIUS FERNANDES
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our sincere thanks

to our chemistry teacher Mrs. Jasmine K S
who guided us to the successful completion
of this project.

We would also like to thank our principle Mrs.

Anupama Mehra for providing us with all the
facilities to complete the project on time
INTRODUCTION
Limonene is a chemical found in the peels of citrus
fruits and in other plants. Limonene has a variety
of uses -
• In pharmaceuticals, it is added to help medical
ointments and creams penetrate the skin
• In manufacturing, limonene is used as a
fragnance, cleaner(solvent), and as an ingredient
in cosmetics and hygiene products etc.
• It is also used in foods and beverages and much
more
AIM

Extraction of limonene using

the peels of citrus fruits
(lemons, oranges) by the
process of steam distillation
REQUIREMENTS
1. Beaker
2. Hexane
3. Distillation apparatus
4. A small glass vile
5. Lemons and oranges
6. Funnel
7. Flasks
8. Condenser
9. Cut rubber bulb
10. Bunsen burner
PROCEDURE
1. Grate the peel of the lemons and oranges
using a cheese grater. Use a brush to brush off
the grated peel pieces sticking to the grater.
2. 4 lemons once grated will give 78.4g of the
grated peel which will be sufficient for the
experiment. Once your done grating, put the
grated peel into a flat bottomed flask using a
funnel.
3. Add water to the flask till it reaches about half.
4. Now assemble the distillation apparatus. Connect
the condenser. Connect the water lines in such a
manner that the water flow is in the opposite
direction to the vapour. Complete the circuit by
eliminating any air bubbles.
5. Place a receiving flask at the other end to collect
the condensed vapours. Start boiling the lemom
peel and water mixture using a bunsen burner.
6. After a few minutes it will begin to boil. The
vapours contain the compounds the lemons have.
The oil is co-distilled with the help of water, as it
immiscible with it. This forms two phases, which
is why it apears as a cloudy liquid in the
condenser.
7. Steam distillation allows to separate compounds
that are immiscible with the distillation
liquid(water). It is commonly used to extract
essential oils from plants and other sources. The
main component we require is called limonene
which is immiscible with water and also less
dense(0.84g/ml) so it forms a phase above the
water. Note the oily drops in the distillate, this
indicates that the oil is being extracted properly.
8. After sometime collect a few drops of the
distillate in another beaker to check for oily
drops. If oily drops are present, continue the
extraction process for some more time.
9. After sometime turn off the bunsen burner.
10. The extraction comes now. A liquid-liquid
extraction will take place using hexane as
solvent.
11. Place a seperatory funnel/burette in the
stand and pour the extracted liquid carefully.
Wash the flask with water and pour into
burette.
12. Add 10ml of hexane to the burette and shake
it. Open the stopcock and drain out the
aqueous phase into a flask(you can repeat
the above process to get maximum yield.
However, use 5ml hexane this time). Release
the oil into a separate beaker
13. Boil the extract in the beaker to isolate
the hexane. It begins boiling at about
62.5C .
14. When about 10ml is left after boiling,
collect it in a small vile. Wash the beaker
again with 2ml of hexane and add it to
the vile. Heat the extract in the vile using
low heat. At some point when the
temperature goes above 80C, stop the
heat.
OBSERVATION
From the peels of 4 lemons and 1 orange, about
5.6 grams of limonene was extracted.
PHOTO GALLERY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.google.com/search?
q=uses+of+limonene&oq=uses+of+limonen
e&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i22i30l2j0i15i22i30j
0i22i30l3j0i15i22i30l3j0i22i30.2649j0j9&cli
ent=ms-android-xiaomi&sourceid=chrome-
mobile&ie=UTF-8

https://youtu.be/IC0qYhQ2XNg