Extraction of Essential Oils from Plants by Hydrodistillation with Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF) Pre-Treatment

Essential oils, EOs, are concentrated liquids with complex mixtures of volatile organic compounds that can be extracted from different plant materials. EOs have been used by humans throughout history due to their natural properties: pleasant fragrances, anti-bacterial/fungal activities. This work presents the impact pulsed electric fields, PEF, application as a pre-treatment for extraction eucalyptus, rosemary, and thyme leaves. The initial PEF was first applied eucalyptus rosemary leaves two weeks after harvesting, 2 kV/cm field specific energy approximately 10 kJ/kg, followed EO hydrodistillation, HD, distillation times 30 60 min. best results were obtained pre-treated samples min exhibiting an increasing trend in average yield 17% 11% respectively, comparison no applied. composition analyzed total phenolic content, TPC, where showed higher polyphenol extraction, reaching 30% HD. Finally, optimization also studied, maximizing quantity dry leaves, while aiming minimization consumption, times. For this study it observed that, material, 1 0.4 kJ/kg HD time min, application, able achieve up 40% than conventional method.