Enfleuration Method For Essential Oil Distillation | 05/12/2016

A number of essential oil industries knowingly using old equipment, and even using distillation kettle made from steel, producing low quality distillate. Stainless steel distiller with suitable capacity will be better choice for farmer group. A 25 kg distiller capacity will be best for nutmeg, clove, star anise’s bark, and massoia bark. Bigger capacity will not be economical for the raw material itself are already costly (Martono,2010). Agarwood distillation as well as for sandalwood would be best to be done with even smaller equipment and using steam distillation technic.

In addition to distiller, a chopper tools is also needed especially for seeds, woody material, and bark. To avoid vaporation of low-boiling-point oil fraction during chopping, such as in nutmeg fruit flesh or ginger, it is best to put the chopped pieces immediately into distillation kettle. Raw material that require aging process prior to distillation would be best using a small conveyor equipment blown with hot air and then left to be aired, this method is suitable for cajuput and patchouli distillation. Several equipment could be added at steam kettle suah as additional steam supply tank to increase pressure, this is particularly for distillation of high boiling point raw material. Since more pressure will extract more oil from inside the cell vacuole, the yield will also increased. Drying and aging were needed to decompose odorless substance into odour substance, in example are breaking glycoside into benzaldehyde that bring sweet scent in almond oil, orris root, and patchouli. It is important to ensure cooling condensor working properly, not clocked, and water speed is maintain by decreasing or increasing the slot width (Pardede,2003).  These matters are oftenly slipped from the farmer attention, focusing only in increasing the steam kettle’s temperature. Oil that is mixed with vapour after condensation should be separated with suitable separator, a tubular condensor will be a good option (Pardede,2003).

Kohobasi distillation system is suitable only for certain material, while steam distillation could be applied in several material with wider scope.  The advantage of using steam distillation are short distillation time, temperature could be maintain up to 100 ºC, stream penetrate evenly into the material tissue, distilled materials do not burnt, higher yield with better quality. The method is suitable to distill component of high boiling point such as clove oil, cinnamon, vetiver, coriander, lemongrass, camphor, cajuput, and other woods. Using the steam system, the amount of boiled water could be controlled with additional hot-resistant glass pipe controller, making it save to use.

Other tools to attain essential oils is pressing machine. The tools is used for fruit, seeds, fruit skin such as citrus, applying hot distillation will spoiled these material. Pressing tools is suitable for almond, apricot, lemon, lemon skin, grape fruit. Pressing tool is hydraulically operated, wrapping cloth is also needed when pressing. Press expeller should be used for higher pressure, could be operated continually and require less space, but the method could result in oil mixed with impurity. This tool can be used to extract volatile essential oil from flower using organic solvent, since the material easily spoiled by hot steam or hot water. Material to be extracted with extractor kettle are flowers such as cempaka, jasmine, hyacinth, tuberose, gardenia, lavender, lily, monose, cananga, and labdenum. Solvents to use are carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, petroleum ether, and other low boiling point solvent. The oil scent will be almost similar to the natural flower oil.

Extraction within extractor using solid fat to flower is aimed to gain high yield. Freshly picked flower will still be alive physiologically. Enfleuration extraction in low temperature will avoid the oil from being degraded due to heating.  Extraction required 24 hour time, when the oil is saturated with flower oil, “pomade” is extracted with ethanol. The ethanol then separated from the flower’s oil, and the fraction is called extrait.other process is  maceration with only fat in warm condition. Extraction by heating up the fat inside a container in temperature of 80 ºC for 1.5 hour. Fresh flower with scent substance will be absorbed. When cooled, it is heated again for the fat that still containing flower is melted, the flower is separated using 80 mesh stainless steel sieve, the water that mixes with oil could also be easily separated. The oil inside the fat then extracted with ethanol to formed extrait (Pardede,2003). 

Apllication of new technology is needed to diversified essential oil. Diversified material is attain from refining essential oil, since the matter is used in aromatherapy, pharmacy, and cosmetics industry. it is no longer need to import essential oil derivative. Material in form of fragrance and flavours will find wider application. Example for this are refined cajuput oil into cineol and star anise (lawang) oil, and also refined clove into eugenol and other products for each essential oil. The process could be in form of precipitation reaction as explained before or fractionation with Sphadek, or separation inside column flask. It is expected that product diversification would widened essential oil market.

Reference

Anonim , 1990. Buku peta mata dagangan minyak atsiri rempah-rempah. Departem,en Perdagangabn, Badan Pengembangan Ekspor Nasional. Pusat Pengembangan Pemasaran Hasil Pertanian. Jakarta.

Guenter, E. 1987. Essentialo Oil. Robert E Krieger Publishing Co. Inc Huntington,New York

Martono,D. 2010. Peningkatan mutu minyak pala dan cengkeh melalui pembinaan langsung di Ternate Propinsi Maluku Utara. Prosiding Konferensi nasional Minyak Atsiri. 20- 21 Oktober 2010 dii Bandung. Dewan Atsiri Indonesia. Jakarta

Pardede. J.J. 2003. Peningkatan Mutu Minyak Atsiri dan Pengembangan Produk Turunannya. Seminar Sosialisasi Peningkatan Mutu Bahan Olah Industri Minyak Atsiri , Ditjen Industri Kimia Agro dan Hasil Hutan .15 September 2003 Jakarta. 

Writer : D. Martono

Translator: Rossi Tampubolon