Extraction of volatile compounds from Juniperus communis L. leaves with supercritical fluid carbon dioxide: comparison with hydrodistillation

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AbstractSupercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of volatile oil from Juniperus communis L. leaves using carbon dioxide was carried out under different conditions of pressure, temperature, modifier content and dynamic extraction time. A total of 22 compounds have been determined in these extracts by GC–FID and identified by GC–MSD, while in the hydrodistilled oil only 11 components were identified and quantified. The proposed extraction method has been compared with the hydrodistillation method. SFE products were found to be markedly different from the corresponding hydrodistilled oil. A remarkable amount of β‐phellandrene was present in the hydrodistilled essential oil; also, the ratio of α‐pinene to 3‐carene in distilled oil was high in comparison with the supercritical carbon dioxide extracts. The results showed that under a pressure of 200 atm, a temperature of 45 °C and a dynamic extraction time of 30 min, supercritical fluid extraction of limonene was more selective, and under a pressure of 350 atm, a temperature of 45 °C and a dynamic extraction time of 20 min, extraction was more selective for the α‐thoujone, which was not identified in the hydrodistilled oil. Better results have been obtained with the proposed method in terms of rapidity, cleanliness and the possibility of manipulating the composition of the extract. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.