Parametric and kinetic modeling, chemical composition, and comparative analyses of Algerian Mentha pulegium L. essential oil extracted from flowers and leaves by hydrodistillation

Mentha pulegium L. is a plant with numerous health benefits that is utilized in traditional Algerian medicine. The objective of the current study was to analyze the chemical compositions of the essential oils produced by the M. pulegium flower and leaf parts after identifying the best hydrodistillation operating parameters and modeling the kinetic extraction. According to parametric tests, first order extraction kinetics result in yields of 1.7±0.06% (w/w) for leaves through 60 minutes and 4.00±0.10% (w/w) for flowers through 30 minutes. Five compounds were found in flowers, whereas 16 compounds were found in leaves. For leaves, a total of 15 constituents accounting for 100% of the oil were found; for flowers, a total of 5 constituents accounting for 100% of the oil were found. Predominance of oxygenated monoterpenes, such as pulegone (53.09%), menthol (12.53%), and neoisopulegol (5.7%) was determined in leaves, respectively pulegone (83.40%), isopulegylacetate (7.98%), and menthol (3.63%) in flowers. The results indicate that the experimental conditions used provided good yields in the extraction of essential oils, particularly from mint blossoms via hydrodistillation. As a result, there are options for lowering the time and energy required for mint oil extraction while still producing a high-quality product

Instant controlled pressure drop extraction of lavandin essential oils: Fundamentals and experimental studies

International audienceDétente Instantanée contrôlée (DIC), French for Instant Controlled Pressure Drop, was performed on laboratory apparatus as well as on a pilot plant for proving its feasibility, and identifying the optimized processing conditions and recognizing the energy consumption and the quantity of water used for such an operation. GC-MS and SPME analysis of the extracts and residue material were carried out to assess the extracts and solid residues. The lavandin essential oils obtained by using the new DIC extraction process was studied, modeled and quantitatively and qualitatively compared to the conventional hydrodistilla-tion method. The most important differences between the two essential oils were reflected in the yields, with 4.25 as against 2.3 g EO/100 g of raw matter, and in the extraction time, with 480 s as against some hours for respectively the DIC and the hydrodistillation operations. These differences have been previewed through the fundamental analysis. They can normally explain the great decreasing of energy consumption to be 662 kWh/t of raw material. The amount of water to be added was about 42 kg water/t of raw material

Comparative Study of Essential Oils Extracted from Algerian Myrtus communis L. Leaves Using Microwaves and Hydrodistillation

Two different extraction methods were used for a comparative study of Algerian Myrtle leaf essential oils: solvent-free-microwave-extraction (SFME) and conventional hydrodistillation (HD). Essential oils analyzed by GC and GC-MS presented 51 components constituting 97.71 and 97.39% of the total oils, respectively. Solvent-Free-Microwave-Extract Essential oils SFME-EO were richer in oxygenated compounds. Their major compounds were 1,8-cineole, followed by α-pinene as against α-pinene, followed by 1,8-cineole for HD. Their antimicrobial activity was investigated on 12 microorganisms. The antioxidant activities were studied with the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•) radical scavenging method. Generally, both essential oils showed high antimicrobial and weak antioxidant activities. Microstructure analyses were also undertaken on the solid residue of myrtle leaves by Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM); it showed that the SFME-cellular structure undergoes significant modifications compared to the conventional HD residual solid. Comparison between hydrodistillation and SFME presented numerous distinctions. Several advantages with SFME were observed: faster kinetics and higher efficiency with similar yields: 0.32% dry basis, in 30 min as against 180 min for HD