Separação do ácido anacárdico a partir do líquido da casca da castanha de caju (LCC)

Abstract

The State of Ceará is the leader on production and exportation of cashew nuts in Brazil. Due to the low rainfall index between 2001 and 2016, including 9 years of rainfalls below the historical average, this crop is being prejudiced in quantity, as in quality, so it has been increasing the investiments not only in the production and exportion of the fruit, but also in the research of its by-products, creating products and compounds with higher associated price. The anacardic acid, the main component of cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), is known for its bactericidal, molluscicidal and anticarcinogenic activities. A range of other activities has been proposed in recent years, but these lack on in vitro and in vivo research. To surplus this necessity is needed to obtain anacardic acid with high purity and low levels of cardol, a compound of CNSL that makes it slightly caustic, for use in animal and human tests. In this work three separation methods were tested, two based on liquid-liquid extraction and one based on chromatography. On extraction methods, the separation of the anacardic acid was carried out from its conversion into calcium anacardate, followed by acidic or basic extraction. Already in the chromatographic separation, a column of silica gel was made with elution of the CNSL in solvents of increasing polarity. This method proved to be effective, since in addition to obtaining a high purity compound, it allowed the recycling of used solvents.