Influence of Process Parameters on Quality Characteristics of Microwave Assisted Extracted Nutmeg Mace Essential Oil

Microwave energy could be effectively used to mediate extraction of essential oil in place of steam or water heating in order to introduce its inherent advantages. Microwave assisted extraction was carriedout for extraction of nutmeg mace essential oil and the quality characteristics of the essential oil were determined. The results showed that the physical quality characteristics such as refractive index, specific gravity, solubility and colour of essential oil were found to be similar in microwave assisted process and conventional hydro distillation process whereas the main chemical constituent myristicin was found to be slightly higher in microwave assisted process than the hydro distillation method.