Dihydroactinidiolide from thermal degradation of -carotene

The formation of dihydroactinidiolide by thermal degradation of -carotene was studied. A comparison of yields of dihydroactinidiolide in commercial -carotene and -carotene derived from crude palm oil was investigated. Thermal degradation of commercial -carotene promoted the formation of dihydroactinidiolide with the highest yield, 61.21%. Thermal degradation of recovered -carotene yielded 29.23% of dihydroactinidiolide. The lower recovery of -carotene was due to the mixture of compounds in the extract. Further investigation indicated some other useful aroma compounds formed from this thermal degradation were -ionone, 3-oxo--ionone, and -cyclocitral.The outcome provided wide opportunities in utilizing crude palm oil as natural source of -carotene to produce aroma compound.