International Conference on Ceramics, Bikaner, India

International Journal of Modern Physics: Conference Series

Vol. 22 (2013) 589592
World Scientific Publishing Company
DOI: 10.1142/S2010194513010714

CRYOGENIC GRINDING: A PHYSICAL TECHNIQUE TO RETAIN

VOLATILE CONTENT IN NATURAL PRODUCTS

ROHIT SAXENA1, ADITI SONI

Int. J. Mod. Phys. Conf. Ser. 2013.22:589-592. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

Department of Humanities and Sciences, Bhagwant University,

Sikar road, Ajmer, 305004, India.

S. N. SAXNA, S. S. RATHORE AND P. BARNWAL

National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Tabiji, Ajmer, 305002, India.
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E-mail id- aditi.soni@hotmail.com,

rohit7_saxena85@yahoo.co.in

Cryogenics is the study of the production of very low temperature (below 150C, 238F or
123K) and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. Similarly, cryogenic grinding is a term
supported by the act of grinding a thing at very low temperature. This technique is generally used
to grind the material, which contains heat labile constituents viz- volatile oils in seed spices. Due
to high fat content in spices, heat is generated, while energy is used to fracture a particle into a
smaller size in conventional grinding process. During the normal grinding process, this generated
heat causes temperature rise of grinder upto 950C. The increased temperature is responsible for a
loss of volatile content in the tune of about 30% and also produces dark colour powder.
Generally, continuous operation is not possible in normal grinding process due to melting of
fat and sticking of powder on the grinding surface. The loss of volatile content can be significantly
reduced by cryogenic grinding technique using liquid nitrogen or liquid carbon dioxide that
provides the refrigeration needed to pre-cool the spices and maintain the desired low temperature
by absorbing the heat generated during the grinding operation. The extremely low temperature
during grinder condenses the volatile matter and retains their presence in spices. The application
of cryogenic technology for grinding of spices has been scientifically proved to be a suitable
technique with negligible loss of volatile content and improved colour of oil and grinding
operation of seeds.

Keywords: Seed spices, cryogenics, volatile content.

1. Introduction
The term Cryogenics originates from Greek word which means creation or production
by means of cold. As prices for energy and raw materials rise and concern for the
environment makes safe waste disposal difficult and Costly, resource recovery becomes a
vital matter for todays business. Cryogenic grinding technology can efficiently grind
most tough materials and can also facilitate Cryogenic recycling of tough composite
materials and multi component scrap. The heart of this technology is the It employs a
cryogenic process to embrittle and grind materials to achieve consistent particle size for a
wide range of products CRYO-GRIND SYSTEM. The cryogenic process also has a

589
 590 R. Saxena et al.

unique capability for recycling difficult to separate materials. Cryogenic grinding is a

method of powdering herbs at sub-zero temperature ranging from 0 to minus 700F. The
herbs and spices are frozen with liquid nitrogen as they are being ground. This process
does not damage or alter the chemical composition of the plant or seeds in any way.
Normal grinding processes which do not use a cooling system can reach up to 200oF.
These high temperature can reduce volatile components and heat sensitive constituents in
herb and spices The cryogenic grinding process starts with air dried herbs, rather than
freeze-dried herbs.. Solid materials are ground or pulverized by way of hammer mills,
attrition mills, granulators or other equipments. A smaller particle size generally needed
to enhance the further processing of the solid, as in mixing with other material. By
Int. J. Mod. Phys. Conf. Ser. 2013.22:589-592. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

cooling to cryogenic temperature with liquid nitrogen, these may be embrittled and easily
fractured in to small particles. Various studies have been carried out on conventional and
cryo grinding1-6. A scientifically controlled study using two genotypes of coriander was
conducted at National Research center On Seed Spices, Ajmer comparing cryogenic
grinding methods and normal grinding methods. 7-8
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Cryogenic grinding was shown to significantly affect active constituent levels in

herbs. Test results showed an average increase of 15.6% in constituents tested in four
medicinal herbs when they were ground cryogenically. The range was 10.7% to 21.8%,
indicating that some herbs are affected more than others by the temperatures at
which they're ground. Cryogenic grinding provides higher production rate, lower energy
consumption, finer particle size, more uniform particle distribution, lower grinding cost,
.no heat generation which is good while grinding spices and provides an inert atmosphere
thus eliminating the possibility of oxidation.

2. Experimental Procedure

2.1. Grinding of Seeds

Two varieties of Coriander namely RCr-436, and Sudha were obtained from seed store of
NRCSS, Ajmer. The seeds were cleaned and used for grinding. Cryogenic grinding of
seeds was done using cryogenic grinder (Hoso-Kava Alpine, Germany) model Fine
Impact Mill 100UPZ at Central Institute for Post Harvest Engineering and Technology,
Ludhiana. Feed rate of material was set at 1 kg/hr with screw speed 3 rpm. The speed of
pin mill was set at 10,000 rpm. Inlet temperature was adjusted to below -50 C and outlet
temperature was -5 to 15C. Product particle size was set on 50 microns. In the process of
cryogenic grinding the material is feed into a feeder hopper and dropped into a conveyor
where the material to be processed enters the pre-chilled conveyor. Liquid nitrogen is
then sprayed and blended directly onto the material. The material is conveyed via a
stainless steel special design auger. The auger not only transports the grinding media, but
also mixes it with liquid nitrogen for greater cooling efficiencies. Liquid nitrogen is
added until the temperature of the material is reduced to a predetermined set
point. This set point is the glass transition temperature of the material. The
extremely low temperature in the grinder solidifies oils so that the spices become brittle,
 Cryogenic Grinding: A Physical Technique to Retain Volatile Content 591

they crumble easily permitting grinding to a finer and more consistent size. Finally the
brittle material enters an impact (pin) mill where it is ground to a desired particle size.
Computer controls the entire process. The Cryogenic ground powder was quickly packed
in aluminum foil packets using sealing machine and opened at the time of analysis. For
obtaining seed powder through conventional grinding dried seeds (30 gm) was ground
separately by domestic mixer grinder (Sujata, model Dynamix, 810 W) and packed in
sealed polythene bags.9-10

2.2. Essential Oil Extraction

Int. J. Mod. Phys. Conf. Ser. 2013.22:589-592. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

The ground powder of coriander genotypes were then examined for essential oil
extraction of each genotype was extracted by hydro-distillation of 50 g ground seeds
using a Celevenger apparatus. The oil has a characteristic odor of linalool and a mild,
sweet, warm, aromatic flavor. In the food industry, coriander oil is used as a flavoring
agent and adjuvant.
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3. Results and Discussion

The essential oil content of the dried fruits of different accessions was varied from
0.10.33 %. The percentage of essential oil of each genotype is shown in table 1.

Table 1. Effect of cryogenic grinding on recovery of essential oil in coriander genotypes.

Variety Intact Conventional Cryo Loss during Loss during

seeds Grinding Ground Conventional Cryo grinding
(%) (%) grinding
Sudha 0.330 0.240 0.294 0.09 0.036
RCr-436 0.138 0.080 0.100 0.058 0.038
Mean 0.234 0.16 0.197 0.074 0.034
S. D. 0.135 0.113 0.137 .022 .001

In the normal grinding process, heat is generated when energy is used to fracture a
particle into a smaller size, that generate heat causes temperature rise in the grinder to the
extent of 95oC which is responsible for a loss of volatile oil in the tune of about 30% and
also produces dark coloured powder. Many important constituents may be deformed and
their quality may be affected badly. The quality of ground powder may be maintained by
cryogenic grinding technique using liquid nitrogen that provides the refrigeration needed
to pre-cool the spices and maintain the desired low temperature by absorbing the heat
generated during the grinding operation. The extremely low temperature in the grinder
solidifies oils so that the spices become brittle, they crumble easily permitting grinding to
a finer and more consistent size11-12. The application of cryogenic technology for grinding
of spices has been scientifically proved to be a suitable technique with negligible loss of
volatile content and improved colour and grinding operation.
 592 R. Saxena et al.

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