Comparison of Microwave-Assisted and Hydrodistillation Methods for Extraction of Essential Oil from Achillea millefolium

Abstract

Microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD) method has been compared with hydrodistillation(HD) conventional technique for extraction of essential oil from Achillea millefolium. Microwave-assistedhydrodistillation were examined at three levels of microwave powers (300, 500, and 700 W). Obtained resultsshow that MAHD offers important advantages over HD in terms of energy savings and extraction time (20 minagainst 2.5 h). Also, the essential oils were analyzed by GC-MS. The amount of oxygenated compounds andmonoterpene, such as 1,8 -Cineole, Lavandulyl acetate,Caryophylla-dien, Aromadendrene were increased inthe microwave method. All these results suggest that MAHD represents an excellent alternative method forextraction of essential oils from plant materials.