Paper Details

Comparison of hydrodistilation and microwave assisted hydrodistillation methods in analysis of the essential oils from aerial parts of Thymus daenensis celak subsp. Lancifolius

Mehran Moradalizadeh, Naghmeh Samadi, Mansooreh Khodashenas

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.12692/ijb/4.6.59-66

Int. J. Biosci. 4(6), 59-66. March, 2014. (PDF)

Abstract:

Microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD) is an advanced hydrodistillation (HD) technique utilizing a microwave oven in the extraction process. In this study, MAHD was investigated for the extraction of essential oils from aerial parts of Thymus daenensis celak subsp and the results were compared with those of the conventional HD. A total of 20 compounds were identified by Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, constituting over 98.9% and 99.4% of oil composition of HD and MAHD, respectively. The two oils contained the same dominant components: carvacrol(55.7% HD; 66.0% MAHD), Thymol (23.0%; 20.0%) and Geraniol (8.0%; 2.0%). Extraction of essential oils from T. daenensis with MAHD was better in terms of energy saving, extraction time (15 min versus 3 h), product yield (1.2% versus 0.9%) and product quality. GC/MS analysis of the extracted essential oils indicated that the use of microwave irradiation did not adversely influence the composition of the essential oils. MAHD was found to be a green technology.