Multi-component models for seed and essential oil extractions

Various types of models have been presented for the SFE of seed and essential oils in the literature. Most of these models consider the natural matrix as a porous sphere and the extractable material as a single chemical specie. In this work, the shrinking-core model is modified for application to a multi-component system in order to simulate SFE of seed oil components. The porous sphere model with the desorption–dissolution–diffusion mechanism to express the extraction is also extended for application to a multi-component system to simulate the SFE of essential oils. The results of these more rigorous analyses suggest possibilities for selective extraction of the mixture constituents, if some processing parameters could be better controlled. Selective extraction would eliminate the need for additional separation operations, which would reduce the cost of production of the desired target component(s).