Aromatic Plants from “Plateau des Cataractes”: Kinetic modeling of the extraction of leaf essential oils from Curcuma mangga (Valeton and Zijp) acclimatized in Congo-Brazzaville

Abstract

Curcuma mangga Val. and Zijp is one of the many underutilized species of the genus Curcuma despite their proven interest as spice to color and enhance the taste of food, on the one hand, and as medicinal plants through essential oils extracted from different parts of the plant, on the other hand. Modeling the extraction in order to optimize the yield of essential oil is a pre requisite for the development of this species used as a spice in Congo-Brazzaville. The experimental results of the extraction of essential oil from the leaves analyzed, according to the phenomenological approach, validate both the kinetic model of the pseudo first order, when the washing step is neglected compared to the diffusion step and that of Peleg corresponding to a desorption in two steps (washing/diffusion). The main constituents of the oil adopt different desorption routes depending on their nature and their quantitative importance in the oil. Simple kinetics have been observed for sesquiterpenes present in relatively large amounts and complex for the monoterpenes in much smaller quantities.