Comparison of the Effect of Hydrodistillation and Microwave Extraction Methods on the Identified Chemical Composition of Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.) Essential Oil Using Gas Chromatography-mass Spectrometry

Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.) has been utilized as a spice for many years. The essential oil of Tarragon can be used as a natural food preservative since the plant has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. There has been a variety of methods to extract essential oils. Different methods of extraction might affect extraction rate, percentage and chemical composition amounts of the extracted essential oils.
To find the best method of essential oil extraction, comparing different methods can be performed. In this research two methods of extraction have been compared.
Essential oil of Tarragon was obtained by hydrodistillation and solvent free microwave extraction. Oils were analyzed and the components were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
The major components of the oil extracted by hydrodistillation were estragol (29.05%) and limonene (11.87%). Estragol (62.40%) and thymol (9.25%) were the major components isolated by microwave free solvent.
Considering temperature and time of extraction, different extraction methods make noticeable changes in chemical composition of the oils.