Development of wood-fired distillation equipment for extracting essential oils from forest betel (<i>Piper aduncum</i> L.)

Abstract The forest betel plant ( Piper aduncum. L) is one of the essential oil-producing plants. Forest betel has the potential as a raw material for botanical insecticides. Essential oils are obtained through a distillation process. This study aims to develop a method of distilling essential oils from P. aduncum fruit using a distillation device heated with firewood as one of the solutions for farmers to increase income. The test began with manufacturing a distillation device with a capacity of 30 kg. The tool is modified with a steaming and boiling system in the distillation process. The distillation equipment is tested to see the quality of the tool. The test results show that the tool is qualified to produce forest betel essential oil, with a boiler heating speed of 1 hour and 15 minutes reaching a boiling point of 100° C. Distillation can produce an essential oil yield of 0.3%. These findings support the potential for commercializing P. aduncum essential oil as a botanical insecticide and reinforce the importance of developing efficient distillation tools to optimize the production of essential oils from unutilized plant sources.