Supercritical CO2 Extraction of Essential oil from pimpinella affinis Ledeb.;Influential Parameters

The extraction of essential oil from pimpinella affinis ledeb was studied by supercritical carbon dioxide. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of process parameters during supercritical extraction, such as pressure (15, 20 and 25MPa), temperature (318, 323 and 328 K), particle size (0.18,0.38 and 0.58, diameter in mm) and bed void fraction (0.3, 0.4 and 0. 5, v/v), in order to attain the highest yield of the essential oil. The effects of these parameters were investigated by fractional factorial design (24-1) with 3 center point to determine the significant parameters and their interactions. The results show that all parameters are significant. The major component of the extracted essential oil was detected an organic material identified as, which can be used in perfume industries. The yield of α-trans bergamotene extracted by different SFE experiments were detected from 7.07 to 97.03% w/w.