Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Essential Oil from Eucalyptus: Study of the Effects of Operating Conditions

Classical extraction of essential oil such as Soxhlet and steam distillation is still a formidable and time-solvent consuming. Microwave assisted process (MAP) is used to accelerate the extraction process of target compounds. It can be used for the extraction of compounds from various plants and animal tissues, or the extraction of undesirable components from raw materials. The investigation of microwave extraction of eucalyptus (globules ) essential oil using ethanol as solvent was carried out. The influence of material (eucalyptus)/solvent (ethanol) ratio, required doses of microwave, and time of microwave exposure on extraction efficiency, was studied.