Técnicas de extração de óleo essenciais: revisão e estudo de caso de hortelã-pimenta

Abstract

Essential oils are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as in other fields such as the food, cosmetics and agriculture sectors. The removal of these oils is essential and includes several conventional techniques that are efficient but have limitations such as significant environmental impact and excessive energy demands. Thus, modern cleaning methods emerge as greener alternatives. A literature review was carried out on the principles and techniques of essential oil extraction, including conventional ones, such as distillation, pressing and solvents, as well as modern ones that aim to reduce the environmental impact and improve the yield and quality of the oils, such as extractions using supercritical fluids, microwaves, ultrasound, and even the combination of techniques, such as hydrodistillation combined with ultrasoundassisted extraction. In addition, topics related to the factors that influence elimination, such as process conditions and plant management, challenges and limitations such as the demand for sustainable solutions and the chemical analysis of oils using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, were also competitive. In the case study, it was observed by the applications of peppermint essential oil, mainly in medicine, where it is used to alleviate symptoms of chronic diseases such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Finally, modern techniques for extracting this oil were compared with conventional hydrodistillation, which is traditional for removing oils from plants. Based on analyses of the results of variables acquired in studies in the literature, the current methods, which were ohmic hydrodistillation, using microwaves and supercritical fluid, stood out in relation to conventional hydrodistillation in the context of the process itself. However, it is worth highlighting the importance of future studies about these techniques capital cost a more assertive decision on the best way to obtain this oil.