Composition on Essential Oil Extraction from Lemongrass Fragrant by Microwave Air Hydro Distillation Method to Perfume Dermatitis Production

Abstract

Essential oils from fragrant lemongrass are generally obtained by conventional extraction methods that require large energy, a significant amount of solvents, and a fairly long processing time. This study used a method developed from microwave hydro distillation, which is a microwave water-hydro distillation to optimize the extraction of essential oils. The purpose of this study was to produce citronella essential oil with the best quality and a large amount compared to the extraction method, where the obtained fragrant citronella oil can be used as raw material for making perfume. Where extraction is carried out at 600 W power; the ratio of the raw material to be extracted and the solvent is 0.5 g mL-1 and the extraction time is 150 minutes. In extraction with microwave water-hydro distillation, the air flow rates used are 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 L/min. The results showed that the extraction of citronella oil with microwave water-hydro distillation was easier and produced higher yields compared to extraction by microwave hydro distillation method. Testing the physical properties of fragrant citronella oil shows that essential oils obtained by microwave hydro distillation and microwave water-hydro distillation have the same quality (refractive index and specific gravity). Furthermore, testing the chemical properties of fragrant citronella oil showed that essential oils obtained by hydro distillation-air microwaves had better flavor compared to oils obtained by microwave hydro distillation.