Comparative Study of Extraction of Rose Oil by Hydrodistillation and Microwave Assisted Extraction (MAE)

Essential oils are highly concentrated substances extracted from flowers, leaves, stems, roots, seeds, barks, resins or fruit rinds. These oils are often used for their flavor and their therapeutic or odoriferous properties, in a wide selection of products such as foods, medicines, and cosmetics. Each essential oil has a unique composition of chemicals, and this variation affects the smell, absorption, and effects on the body. The chemical composition of an essential oil may vary within the same plant species, or from plant to plant. Essential oils are obtained through distillation via steam and/or water or mechanical methods, such as cold pressing. Study was undertaken for the extraction of rose essential oil by the conventional hydrodistillation and microwave assisted distillation. MAE is much faster due to rapid heating, which leads to faster extraction of essential oils. While in the case of conventional hydrodistillation, it requires a significantly longer time, as heat is applied gradually through water or steam and requires much longer duration for complete extraction. Thus microwave-assisted extraction is an efficient, eco-friendly, and fast method for extracting high-quality rose oil.