Abstract

Optimization of the extraction of essential oils from Areca catechu L. flowers using response surface methodology

Author(s): Liang Li, Jianbang Ji, Xiaoning Kang, Ping Dai, Chuanxian Fu

The present work was to optimize a water vapor distillation procedure to extract essential oils fromAreca catechu L. Flowers.Athree-variable, threelevel Box-Behnken experimental design (BBD) was conducted to analyse the effects of soaking time, distillation time and solid to liquid ratio on the extraction efficiency. The experimental data were fitted to a second-order polynomial equation using multiple regression analysis and also analyzed using the appropriate statistical methods. The optimisation suggested that extraction with the soaking time for 4.8h, distillation time for 5.0h and the ratio of solid to liquid 1:2.7 were the best solutions for this combination of variables, under the optimum operating conditions, the extraction yield was 0.0196%.