HYDRODISTILLATION OF ORANGE ESSENTIAL OIL:KINETIC STUDY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

Abstract

Citrus fruits are well known as the excellent source of vitamin C and exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumour properties. The waste of Citrus, such as peels consist high amount of essential oil, which can be used as an ingredient in perfume, cosmetic products, massage oil and food. In this study, a simple and economic hydrodistillation technique is used to extract essential oil from orange (Citrus sinensis) peel at different steam rate. Kinetic study was done to determine the kinetic parameters of hydrodistillation of orange oil while GCMS and FTIR analysis was done to determine the quality of the essential oil. It was found that the highest oil yield was 5.73 wt% at steam flow rate 2.43ml/min. The value for concentration of oil at saturation (Ce), the extraction rate (k) and initial extraction rate (h) was increased when the steam rate increased. D- Limonene was found as the most abundant constituent in the orange essential oil.