Extraction of Peppermint Essential Oils and Lipophilic Compounds: Assessment of Process Kinetics and Environmental Impacts with Multiple Techniques

Consumers are becoming more mindful of their well-being. Increasing awareness of the many beneficial properties of peppermint essential oil (EO) has significantly increased product sales in recent years. Hydrodistillation (HD), a proven conventional method, and a possible alternative in the form of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aleksandar Radivojac, Oskar Bera, Zoran Zeković, Nemanja Teslić, Živan Mrkonjić, Danijela Bursać Kovačević, Predrag Putnik, Branimir Pavlić
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
Series:Molecules
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/26/10/2879
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Summary:Consumers are becoming more mindful of their well-being. Increasing awareness of the many beneficial properties of peppermint essential oil (EO) has significantly increased product sales in recent years. Hydrodistillation (HD), a proven conventional method, and a possible alternative in the form of microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MWHD) have been used to isolate peppermint EO. Standard Soxhlet and alternatively supercritical fluid (SFE), microwave-assisted, and ultrasound-assisted extraction separated the lipid extracts. The distillations employed various power settings, and the EO yield varied from 0.15 to 0.80%. The estimated environmental impact in terms of electricity consumption and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions suggested that MWHD is an energy efficient way to reduce CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. Different extraction methods and solvent properties affected the lipid extract yield, which ranged from 2.55 to 5.36%. According to the corresponding values of statistical parameters, empiric mathematical models were successfully applied to model the kinetics of MWHD and SFE processes.
ISSN:1420-3049