An efficient process for the extraction of lutein and chemical characterization of other organic volatiles from marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) flower

[Display omitted] •Marigold petals are the primary industrial source of lutein.•An efficient green process described for isolating high purity lutein from marigold petals.•The process does not require recrystallization for further purification of free lutein.•The process does not use toxic solvents, high temperatures, acid, etc.•2-MeTHF appears as a potential alternative solvent to hexane for lutein extraction. Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) petals are the primary industrial source of lutein, which is used as a colouring agent and nutrient supplement to foods. This research extracted marigold petals using different solvents, covering conventional and non-toxic green solvents. The oleoresin, free lutein, and recrystallized lutein yields varied from 8.47–16.67%, 2.56–9.62%, and 1.11–1.61%, respectively. The purity of lutein was achieved up to 92.57% and 97.64% in conventional and newly established green methods, respectively. The present study described an efficient green process to isolate lutein with significantly improved yield (2.56%) and purity (97.33%) over the conventional methods. Based on the results, 2-methyltetrahydrofurancould be a practical green alternative to the traditional toxic solvents for the processing of lutein. Further, the chemical analysis of the essential oil of the residual receptacles obtained after removing petals revealed the presence of important organic volatiles, including piperitone (54.7%) and piperitenone oxide (6.5%), indicating its usefulness for value-addition.