The Effects of Vacuum Evaporation on Amino Acid Contents in Pureed Aloe Chinensis Baker Gel using HPLC

Abstract

Aloe Chinensis Baker is an aloe species that is frequently utilized in Asia, including Indonesia. Aloe vera contains various compounds in its leaves, such as vitamins, enzymes, and amino acids. The largest component of Aloe vera leaves is water. Vacuum evaporation is considered to be a potential method in the process to reduce the water content while maintaining the integrity of the nutrients. The objective of this research is to reduce the water content in pureed Aloe vera gel to obtain extracts. Evaporation using a rotary vacuum evaporator is conducted at an pressure of 110 mBar and temperature of 40 °C, and a varied time of 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes. Analyses of amino acid contents are performed with HPLC. The results show that at 120 minutes, the preserved amino acid contents include: L-Isoleucine 29.3 ppm, L-Proline 10.8 ppm, L-Arginine 9.0 ppm, L-Asparagine 243 ppm, L-Threonine 56.9 ppm, L-Leucine 30.9 ppm, L-Methionine 38.4 ppm, L-Histidine 15.4 ppm, Aspartic Acid 24.4 ppm, L-Lysine 108.9 ppm, L-Cysteine 131.0 ppm, L-Alanine 40.2 ppm, and Glycine 230.7 ppm. The resulting Aloe vera extract show the following characteristics, density of 0.99 g/ml and pH of 6.5. Yield of 120 minutes evaporation is 40 %.