Abstract

Menthapiperita is one of the important traditional medicinal plants widely used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetic, food and flavor industries and belongs to the labiatae family. The plant in this family is widely used to improve concentration and memory level. Altering the extraction methods of economically important mentha oil may allow raising the engineer composition, increasing the rate of oil’s extraction with lesser energy demand. The experiment was performed to model higher mentha oil yield as the function of distinct operating parameter. The intent of this work was to differentiate the three extraction method- Solvent free extraction method, Microwave assisted hydro distillation and hydro distillation in term of high yield of peppermint oil with less energy consumption. This experiment was designed to evaluate the interaction of significant parameters such as solvent to raw material ratio, extraction time and microwave power on the yield of mentha piperita oil. The material used in this work includes the fresh leaves of mentha piperita. The extractions by microwave assisted hydro distillation were done on the power of 200W, 250W and 300W; the ratio of solvent and raw material to be extracted (4:1, 6:1, 8:1, 10:1) and extraction time was 30, 60, 90 and 120 min. whereas extraction by SFME method were done on same power level at constant load of plant matter in the same level of extraction time. From the results, the maximum yield of peppermint oil was achieved from solvent free microwave extraction method with 1.02% yield at 250W in 90min. And SFME method was discovered to be the best method in the term of yield as it compared with other two methods 0.98% of yield in 90 min from MAHD method and 0.97% of yield from HD after 4.5 hour of distillation time). Therefore, SFME is considered to be the new green technology for extracting oil as a more energy saver, money saver and clean process. Testing of volatile compounds present in extracted peppermint oil was investigated by Gas Chromatography and mass spectrometry. And testing has confirmed that there is no effect of extraction technique on the main constituents of oil as the content of menthol compound was noticeably same. From the experimental work SFME proved as a superior and green method for the extraction of higher essentials oil with lesser energy required.

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