ared.

EXTRACTION OF ESSENTIAL OIL

Essential oils are used in a
wide variety of consumer goods such as
detergens
soaps, toilet products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, perfumes, confectionery food
products, Soft drinks, distilled alcoholic beverages (hard drinks) and insecticides. ne
World production and consumption of essential oils and perfumes are increasing vey
fast.

Sources of natural essential oil

Essential oils are generally derived from one or more plant parts, such as flowers (eg
rose, jasmine, carnation, clove, mimosa, rosemary, lavander), leaves (e.g. mnt.
Ocimum spp., lemongrass, jamrosa), leaves and
stems (eg geranium, patchoul
petitgrain, verbena, cinnamon), bark (e.g. cinnamon, cassia, canella), wood (e.g. cedar,
sandal, pine), roots (e.g. angelica, sassafras, vetiver, saussurea, valerian), seeds (e.g
coriander, caraway, dill, nutmeg), (bergamot, orange,
fruits lemon, juniper),
ennel,
rhizomes (e.g. ginger, calamus, curcuma, orris) and gums or oleoresin exudations (e.g.
balsam of Peru, Myroxylon balsamum, storax, myrrh, benzoin).
Types of Essential oils
of
1. Concretes: Volatile oils extracted by using solvents prepared from raw materials
contain about 50 % wax
vegetable origin (bark, flowers, leafs, roots etc.). Concretes
and 50 % essential oil.
2. Pomades: Pomades are products of a process known as enfleurage
natural resinous material (dried material) by extraction with a non-
3. Resinoids: Prepared from
aqueous solvent, e.g. Petroleum ether or hexane.
E.g. Balsams Peru balsam or benzoin; resins (amber or mastic); Oleoresin (copaiba
balsam and turpentine); Oleogum resins (frankincense and myrrh)
4. Absolutes: Obtained from a concrete, pomade, or a resinoid by alcoholic extraction

Methods of extraction

1. Distillation

In order to isolate essential oils by hydro distillation, the aromatic plant material is
packed in a still and a sufficient quantity of water is added and brought to a boil;
Due to the influence of hot
alternatively, live steam is injected into the plant charge.
water and steam, the essential oil is freed from the oil glands
in the plant tissue. Thee
condensed by indirect cooling with water. From the
vapour mixture of water and oil is
from the
condenser, distillate flows into a separator, where oil separates automatically
distillate water. The diferent types of hydro distillation are

a. Water Distillation

Plant material is immersed directly in a still filled with water. This is then brought
condensed on a cold
to a boil. Water is made to boil and Heterogeneous vapours
are
surface. Essential oil separates based on difference in density and immiscibility.

dry, be overheated, burning the aromatics and

or
Disadvantage: The still can run

in Essential oil with a burnt smell. Hydro distillation seems to work best for
resulting an
 tough materials like roots,
powders (e., spice powders, ground wood, etc.) and very
wood, or nuts.

b.Wator and Stoam Dlstillton (wot stoam dlstlltilon)

material is
water. The plant
does not come into contact with the
Plant material
water below the
on / perforated grid below which water is boled. The
Supported a cage which rises through
saturated and wet steam
grid is heated by open fire which produces
the plant material vaporizing the essential ollwithit.
Advantages
fuel
High oil & reproducible yields, faster, lessercost field distillation
and easy operation
Due to their very simple construction, low countries
developing
essentlal oil producers in
units are extremely popular with
Disadvantages steam
Time consuming as low pressure
Time consuming as low
quality ol
Poor quality oil Poor
Improper condensation
Oil separation incomplete
Less recovery
c. Direct steam distillation (Dry steam distillation)
material with steam
distilling plant
distillation is the process of referred to as a boiler
Direct steam
steam generator generally
the stillin a satelite
generated outside

Advantage: in a
as the steam is generated
can be readily controlled
T h e amount of steam
should
satellte boiler
C and, consequently, it
material is heated no higher than 100°
The plant
degradation. the production of
not undergo thermal process for
distillation is the most widely accepted
Steam
essential oils on large scale.

d. Hydro diffusion
material at very low pressure
from top
sent through the plant
A pulse of steam is in normal steam
distillation.
from the bottom as
to bottom instead of

Advantages
Less steam is used,
time and a higher oil yield.
Shorter processing
2. Expression
citrus oils. The term
cold pressing is onlyused in the production of
Expression or the peel
process in which
the essential oil glands in
expression refers to any physical methods
release the oil. It is done by 3
are crushed or broken to

The oil was removed from

the peel either by pressing the peel
a.Sponge expression: under a large natural sponge or
of baked clay which was placed
against a hard object emulsion absorbed by the sponge
was
into the sponge. The ol
by bending the peel
removed by squeezin9
with blunt ends across
bowl is equipped with brass points
b. Equalling: The copper some pressure until all the oil glands
fruit is rolled by hand with
which the whole citrus hollow
contents are allowed to dribble down the
have burst. The oil
and aqueous cell
decantation
from which the ol is separated by
tube into a container
C. Machine abrasion: a
machine
running water and is then fed strips off the outer peel. which is then removed
done extremely fast but
into a centrifuaal Dy
separator. The centrifugal
combined with other cell
it should be
noted that due to the fact that the separatio
oil is
content for some time, some alteration couldesse
enzymatic action o u due to

3. Solvent extraction

Solvent extraction is
Tuberose, hyacinth) that has a
particularly suitable for fragile plant materiala
very low vield of essential oil or where it is made
up o
mostly resinous components which would not be to handle with steam
able distiiation
g n i s ype of extraction, non-volatile components ofthe botanical material such
as waxes and pigments are also extracted.
he most commonly used solvents are petroleum ether, methanol, ethanol or hexane
Although benzene is a good solvent, its toxicity increasingly limits is use.

Main disadvantages of solvent extraction

in the concretes &
Lack of selectivity, many lipophilic substances may end up
render further purification necessary.
their
The toxicity of solvents leads to the restrictive regulations regarding
use
Residues in thefinal product.

4. Other special methods:

a. Maceration:
membranes ruptured and the
The flowers soaked in hot oil to have their cell
are
decanted. It is mainly used
The oil is then cleared and
hot oil then absorbs the essence.
activities are lost rapidly after their
for highly delicate flowers whose physiological
harvest, such as lily of valley.

b. Enfluerage
Certain flowers (e.g. tuberose and
The principles of enfleurage are simple.
activities of developing and giving off perfume
even

jasmine) continue the physiological in contact

of absorption and, when brought
after picking. Fat possesses a high power methodically
absorbs the perfume emitted. This principle,
with fragrant flowers, readily flowers are strewn over
picked
applied on alarge scale, constitutes enfleurage. Freshly
fat base let there (for 24 h in the case of jasmine and
the surface of a specially prepared the oil is
and then replaced by fresh flowers. Thereafter,
longer in the case of tuberose),
with alcohol and then isolated.
extracted from the saturated fat

c. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE)

extraction is a fairly new way to extract essential
The use of supercritical fluid does yield good
and although a bit on the expensive side,
oils from botanical material
quality oils.

Carbon dioxide under low pressure (200

atmospheres) becomes supercritical at
which it is not really gas or liquid, but has qualities of both,
33 C, which is a state in since the low
to use in the extraction of essential oils
and is an excellent solvent is near to instantaneous.
and the fact that the process
temperature required
decaffeinate coffees, prepare hops extracts or to remove
Initially developed to
the method is nOW used to prepare spice extracts (ginger,
nicotine from tobacco,
paprika, celery), Specific flavours (black tea, oak wood smoke), plant oils and to
produce specified types of a certain product, e.g. thujoneless wormwood oil.
The carbon dioxide is furthermore inert and therefore does not
interact with the essence that is chemically
being extracted. To remove the carbon dioxide
solvent, you simply need to remove the pressure under which it is
kept.
This process has to take
place in a closed chamber for the
required for CO2 is 200 atmospheres that is 200 times thesupercritical ofpressure
pressure normal
atmosphere.
To achieve this type of
pressure some heavy-duty stainless steel equipment is
required, and this is where high capital investment is required for this extraction
method.