The methods used for oil extraction of Sicilian lemon oil are:
Hand pressing
- Sponge
- Ecuelle
Machine processing
Two methods are use:
- Sfumatrici – The fruit is halved and the juice first expressed by reaming. The peels are then individually pressed to release the oil.
- Pellatrice. The whole fruit in a fine stream of water, the oil and cellular detritus being separated and the water recycled. The oil is obtained by centrifuged the liquor and pressing the solid matter.
Sfumatrici treat only the peel from which the pulp has been remove, while the pellatrici (rotary rasping machines) treat the whole fruit.
Some of these machines, especially the sfumatrici, produce oil almost as good as “sponge” oil, but the latter is still considered superior in appearance, flavor, preservative qualities and citral content.
The oxygenated constituents of lemon oil, to which the oil owes most of its odor and flavor, are the more soluble in water and for the highest quality oil it is desirable to separate it from any aqueous phase as rapidly as possible.
Although widely used, centrifuging is not an entirely satisfactory method of achieving separation owing to the formation of persistent emulsions.
Lemon tree tend to produce fruit continuously but the age of the tree and growing conditions result in a more-or-less seasonal cropping.
Sicilian oil has the best odor characteristics. Oil produced in Sicily is reportedly higher in citral content than oil produced in California.
Lemon oil is used to flavor medicines and is an important flavor in bakery products, carbonated soft drink, soft-drink powders, gelatin deserts, extracts, candies and ices.
The oil is also used in perfumery, eaux de Cologne, lotions, and soaps.
Because lemon oil alone is not very stable, its terpenes and sesquiterpenes are usually removed, leaving a stable oil that is more soluble in aqueous alcohol.
Demand for lemon oil is only increasing slowly. The main markets are Western Europe (40%) , the United States (35%) and Japan (8%)
Sicilian Lemon Oil Extraction
