Abstract
Microwave-assisted steam distillation (MSD) was developed as an efficient technique for the separation of essential oil (EO) from tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews) petals, on the basis of ensuring the extraction of flavonoids. During MSD process, the raw material was separated from water to keep it in a relatively dry state, thus contributing to the subsequent extraction of flavonoids. In this work, the optimization of MSD process was conducted to obtain the optimum conditions (1.7 mL/g water ratio for soaking, 1 h soaking time, 540 W microwave irradiation power and 30 min microwave irradiation time) and high yield of EO (0.66 ± 0.03 mg/g). The MSD technique was compared with other reference methods in terms of kinetic model fitting, economic value, environmental impact, EO composition and antioxidant activity. The result pointed out that the MSD method could be reasonably fitted by first-order kinetic model, was environmentally friendly and economically sustainable, provided higher separation efficiency, required lower energy consumption, and had certain advantages in the separation of EO with higher proportion of oxygenated components and better antioxidant activity. Furthermore, microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of flavonoids from the petal residues obtained after MSD showed better result than that obtained after microwave hydrodistillation, and the result was comparable with MAE and heat reflux extraction. Overall, MSD is a potential and powerful alternative to traditional methods for the efficient distillation of EO, on the premise of reducing the loss of flavonoids etc. non-volatile components.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call