A cutting-edge assessment of recent advancements in essential oils extraction technologies for energy and ecological sustainability: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Hydrodistillation (HD) systems have been popular for essential oils extraction from medicinal and aromatic plants for several decades. Nevertheless, they substantially consume thermal or electrical energy and have a visible carbon footprint on the environment. This article describes a state-of-the-art review of the HD systems used for essential oil extraction to examine their effectiveness. From this study, it has been found that, for a microwave-assisted system, the yield of an essential oil varies from 0.079% to 8.62%. The microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD) system yields 32% more than a conventional HD system. The average extraction time saved using the MAHD system is 67.17% compared with the traditional one. Ohmic-assisted HD system is better than the microwave-assisted and conventional HD system, with an 18.04% enhancement in the yield. During this study, it is also investigated that for the distillation system operating at atmospheric pressure, the extraction temperature ranges from 80°C to 120°C. This temperature can easily be attained in a solar hydrodistillation system. Several investigators have demonstrated the use of solar energy for essential oil extraction. However, these systems mostly use a concentrating collector, henceforth found bulky and expensive.