Determination of the liquid-solid relation for the hydrodistillation process of Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf

Essential oils are mixtures of secondary metabolites which can be used as additives for food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry. Hydro-distillation technique is one of the most common extraction process but optimization studies are quite uncommon. The present study performed a general mass balance concerning the hydro-distillation of Cymbopogon citratus oil in order to determine the input and output currents. the following solute (leaves)-solvent (water) relationships (g/g) were defined: 50-200; 100-200; 150-200; 200-200; 250-200; 300-200. The greatest amount of oil and the lowest decrease in yield was performed with the following solute/solvent ratio: 200/200 (g/g), obtaining an amount of 1.7 mg of oil and a yield of 1 mg oil/leaves. The present study suggests increasing solute/solvent ratio investigation in order to optimize hydro-destillation process.