Extraction of Mint (Mentha Spicata) Essential Oil by Gas Recirculation Method

The hypothesis of the sufficiency of plant water content in extraction process was studied in theory. Essential oil extraction device was manufactured using a non-distillable gas instead of water vapor and evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively. The results of experiments on the manufactured device resulted in the optimum extraction mode using the air cycle and showed that the highest efficiency was obtained at lower speeds and higher air temperatures. Also the results showed that the extracted essential oil by new method in all states is less than the essential oil obtained with steam distillation. The results of analysis of samples using GC/MS showed that the percentages of the compounds in the samples obtained from the gas cycle and water distillation methods were different. For example, the percentage of limonene in the essential oil of Clevenger was 12.24 and in the gas cycle method was 0.22.