Ultrasound assisted essential oil extraction technology: New boon in food industry

Essential oils are more complex and comprise a number of volatile and natural bioactive compounds, which often used in food industries as the best alternatives. Near about 18 thousand oil-bearing plant species in existence on Earth, among all at industrial level approximately 300 essential oils are produced. Essential oil extraction system should combine the best product quality and the highest efficiency. This review summarises ultrasound assisted essential oil extraction technology. Ultrasonic-assisted extraction of essential oil from medicinal plant could be a good option. Many emerging technologies, namely strategies that are found to have the potential to change the current situation, have been developed. The application of ultrasound during extraction of essential oil from medicinal plant uses less solvent as compared to conventional methods such as mechanical extraction and soxhlet extraction. Experiment can be done at different ultrasonic power (70 W, 110 W, 150 W, 190 W, 210 W, 230 W and 250 W), different extraction temperature (25°C, 30°C, 35°C, 40°C, 45°C, 50°C, 55°C and 60°C). The oil yield can be increased from 48.09 ± 0.29 % to 55.44 ± 0.53 % when the extraction time ranged between 5 min and 20 min at 210W. This technology help to maintain the oil quality with low processing time which can be boon for local processor.