Natural Product Research

Formerly Natural Product Letters

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Esential oils extraction: a 24-hour steam

distillation systematic methodology

Mijat Božović, Alberto Navarra, Stefania Garzoli, Federico Pepi & Rino Ragno

To cite this article: Mijat Božović, Alberto Navarra, Stefania Garzoli, Federico Pepi & Rino Ragno
(2017) Esential oils extraction: a 24-hour steam distillation systematic methodology, Natural
Product Research, 31:20, 2387-2396, DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2017.1309534

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2017.1309534

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 Natural Product Research, 2017
VOL. 31, NO. 20, 2387–2396
https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2017.1309534

Esential oils extraction: a 24-hour steam distillation

systematic methodology
Mijat Božovića,b, Alberto Navarraa,b, Stefania Garzolib, Federico Pepib  and
Rino Ragnoa,b,c
a
Rome Center for Molecular Design, Department of Drug Chemistry and Technology, Sapienza University,
Rome, Italy; bDepartment of Drug Chemistry and Technology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy; cAlchemical
Dynamics S.R.L., Rome, Italy
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ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Steam distillation is known to be the most prevalent method of Received 28 December 2016
essential oil extraction. Despite many studies on extraction methods, Accepted 17 March 2017
there is no report about the impact of distillation process duration
KEYWORDS
on the yield and oil quality. A new 24-h steam distillation process for 24-h steam distillation;
extraction of plant essential oils is presented. For improving the total essential oil isolation; yield;
yield, prolonged and continued isolation was used. A selection of plant Apiaceae; Lamiaceae
species from Lamiaceae and Apiaceae families was subjected to direct
steam distillation and essential oils were collected at different times (1,
2, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h). The analysis included either annual or perennial
species monitored in terms of different harvesting time. From these
studies, it is conclusively that there is no rule about appropriate
extraction time, and different plants need different periods for the
essential oils to achieve the desired quality or quantity of extract.
Thus, extraction duration is directly dependent on what the study is
conducted for.

CONTACT  Rino Ragno  rino.ragno@uniroma1.it

 Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2017.1309534.
© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
 2388   M. BOŽOVIĆ ET AL.

1. Introduction
Essential oils (EOs) are naturally occurring volatile compound mixtures generally obtained
by steam distillation, having the characteristic aroma of the plant part they come from.
Generally, EO is present at low concentrations and it requires high-performance extraction
techniques in order for high yields to be achieved (Tongnuanchan & Benjakul 2014). EOs are
produced by different methods, including solvent extraction, supercritical fluid extraction,
hydro distillation and steam distillation. Recently, ultrasound- and microwave-assisted pro-
cesses have become attractive (Gómez & Witte 2001; Mohammad & Karamatollah 2008;
Malekydozzadeh et al. 2012; Ranitha et al. 2014).
Plant EOs are usually the complex mixture of natural compounds, both polar and nonpolar
(Masango 2005). They are composed principally of terpenoids, including monoterpenes and
sesquiterpenes (diterpenes may also be present), and their related oxygenated derivatives.
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A variety of other molecules may also occur, such as aliphatic hydrocarbons, acids, alcohols,
aldehydes, acyclic esters or lactones, and exceptionally nitrogen- and sulphur-containing
compounds, coumarins and phenylpropanoid homologues. However, these molecules are
extremely sensitive to heat and due to this, they are often subject to chemical changes, and
some losses of volatile compounds may occur depending on the extraction method used
(Alves De Barros et al. 2013).
EOs have an unexpectedly large range of applications: they have been widely used as
food flavours (Burt 2004), and possessing antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, it serves
as natural additives in foods and food products (Tongnuanchan & Benjakul 2014). They are
known for their antiseptic (i.e. bactericidal, virucidal and fungicidal), medicinal properties
and their fragrance. EOs are used in embalmment, preservation of foods and as antimicrobial,
analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, spasmolytic and local anaesthetic remedies (Bakkali
et al. 2008).

1.1.  Steam distillation as the method of EO extraction

The EO extraction method is important, in that its chemical composition is somewhat
dependent on the applied practice (Xavier et al. 2011). However, the choice of each technique
depends on the objective to be achieved by research. Distillation-based recovery processes
such as steam or hydro distillation are preferred for the extraction of EOs from plant materials.
These processes are flexible, versatile, do not generally lead to EOs decomposition and pro-
vide the possibility of operating from small (Amenaghawon et al. 2014) to huge volumes.
On the other hand, these methods suffer from some disadvantages including losses of vol-
atile compounds, long extraction times and high levels of energy consumption (Gavahian
et al. 2015). However, these methods are the simplest and the equipment they require is
often more available.
Steam distillation is a separation process for temperature sensitive materials like oils,
resins, hydrocarbons, etc. which are insoluble in water and may decompose at their boiling
point. This process, as the most widely used method for plant EOs extraction, has been
actively pursued since the beginning of the 1980s (Reverchon & Senatore 1992). The funda-
mental nature of the process is that it enables a compound or mixture of compounds to be
distilled at a temperature significantly below the corresponding individual constituent(s)
boiling point(s). EOs contain substances with boiling points up to 200 °C or higher, but in
 NATURAL PRODUCT RESEARCH   2389

the presence of steam or boiling water, these substances are volatilised at the water boiling
point (100 °C) at atmospheric pressure (Rao & Pandey 2007).
Fresh or dried plant material is placed in the plant chamber of a steel apparatus and the
generated steam passes through plant material thus softening the cells and letting the EO
escape in vapourised form. The heating of the system must be mantained  to increment the
EO vapour pressure, yet not so high to destroy the plant or burn the plant and hence the EO
(Babu & Kaul 2005). As soon as it is released, tiny EO droplets forms and mix with the steam
(the carrier) and converge into a cooling system. The mixture condenses to form a bilayer
liquid. In the majority of cases, the oil is less dense (lighter) than water, forming the top layer
of the distillate and can be separated easily using proper method and instruments (Rao &
Pandey 2007). It has been reported that the proportion of EO extracted by steam distillation
is around 93% and the remaining 7% can be further extracted by other methods (Masango
2005). EOs isolated by steam distillation are different in composition from those naturally
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occurring in plants, since the steam distillation conditions cause chemical reactions to occur
which result in the formation of certain artificial chemicals, called artefacts. Some of these
are considered beneficial – formation of chamazulene during the chamomile oil extraction
(Povh et al. 2001), while others may not be – the hydrolysis of esters like linalyl acetate to
the corresponding alcohols that was observed in clary sage oils (Schmaus & Kubeczka 1984).
The effects of different distillation methods on oil content and composition of aromatic
plants have been previously reported (Fathi & Sefidkon 2012; Aliboudhar & Tigrine-Kordjani
2014; Wong et al. 2014; Liu et al. 2015). Other factors such as cultivation, soil and climatic
conditions, and harvesting time, can also determine the composition and quality of the EO
(Pereura et al. 2008). An improved method has been developed for maximum yield of EO
from Celery seeds which included hydro distillation using electric, microwave as well as
steam heating (Jain et al. 2003). A number of factors determine the final quality of a steam
distilled EO, but the most important are time, temperature and pressure. The effects of these
parameters on the yield of Eucalyptus EO were investigated, showing their significant impact,
and suggesting the optimisation of these important process parameters (Kabuba & Huberts
2009).

2.  Results and discussion

A selection of six species of plants among Lamiaceae and Apiaceae families has been inves-
tigated, including annuals Sideritis romana L. subsp. purpurea (Tal. ex Benth.) Heywood (SP)
and Ridolfia segetum Moris (RS), and perennials Mentha suaveolens Ehrh. (MS) (Garzoli et al.
2015), Calamintha nepeta (L.) Savi subsp. glandulosa (Req.) Ball (CG) (Božović et al. 2017),
Melissa officinalis L. subsp. altissima (Sibth. & Sm.) Arcangel (MA) and Foeniculum vulgare
Miller (FV). Both fresh (MS and CG) and dried material (SP, RS, MA and FV) have been inves-
tigated to validate a 24-h EO steam distillation extraction model (Figures S1-S7).
Regarding SP, the oil yield rapidly decreased after the first hour of the extraction process,
increasing in the last 21 h, with the same last fraction yield as of the first one (Figure S1). This
is a very unusual profile, as most EOs are normally extracted in the first 3 h. This plant was
not monitored in terms of different harvesting time. The flowering material was collected
in the second half of June, furnishing a 0.038% total yield over 24 h (Figure S7). The overall
EO amount increased from 0.1 to almost 0.4 grams per kg of plant subjected to steam dis-
tillation indicating a low EO content in this species. Interestingly, the higher amount of EOs
 2390   M. BOŽOVIĆ ET AL.

was obtained in the first and sixth fractions, accounting for about 28% and 29% of extracted
oil (Tables 1 and 2).
MA has been monitored for 3 months, from July to September, covering the main stages
(periods before, during and after flowering). July material gave the least amount of EO, but
the yield curve was specific, showing the increase after the third fraction – in the last 12 h it
reached almost half of the amount from the first fraction (Tables 1 and 2). Flowering material
from August and fruiting material from September, compared to each other, show no sig-
nificant differences in yield curves. However, within the first hour of extraction, the amounts
of EO doubled in comparison with July (Figure S2). Cumulative yields were very similar for
all 3 months (0.030–0.039), indicating that harvesting period has no impact (Figure S7, Table
2). Analysis of the EO amount shows similar values to that of SP, but differently, the greatest
percentages were obtained within 1 or 2 h of extraction indicating that in case of industrial
oil production the extraction should be stopped within 2 h, in particular if harvested in
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August or September.
MS has also been monitored for the same period (3 months). In August and September,
the 24-h yields were 2.5 times larger than those of July (Figure S7, Table 2). This showed great
impact of the plant growth stage, highlighting the blooming period as the most fruitful in
terms of EO yielding. In general, the highest amounts (from each month) were obtained
during the first three extraction phases (1–3 h) and the last 12 h of extraction, giving curves
similar to that of SP (Figure S3). Regarding the cumulative EOs quantities, MS gave a greater
yield in the first two fractions, especially in August and September accounting for more than
50% of the total amount extracted in 24 h. Interestingly, the last two fractions (12 and 24 h)
are those giving the greater amount of EOs if compared to the others EOs extractions
(Figure S7).

Table 1. Relative yield % calculated on dried (SP, MA, FV and RS) or fresh plant material (MS and CG).
ha (fraction)
Plant species m b
1 (1) 2 (2) 3 (3) 6 (4) 12 (5) 24 (6)
SP NA 0.011 0.003 0.002 0.004 0.007 0.011
MA Jul. 0.010 0.004 0.002 0.003 0.005 0.006
Aug. 0.020 0.006 0.003 0.004 0.003 0.003
Sep. 0.020 0.006 0.002 0.003 0.003 0.003
MS Jul. 0.030 0.010 0.005 0.004 0.006 0.012
Aug. 0.070 0.020 0.010 0.020 0.030 0.040
Sep. 0.050 0.040 0.004 0.010 0.010 0.070
CG Jul. 0.300 0.050 0.010 0.006 0.004 0.003
Aug. 0.300 0.060 0.040 0.020 0.006 0.006
Sep. 0.190 0.060 0.050 0.060 0.016 0.005
Oct. 0.180 0.080 0.030 0.030 0.008 0.0004
FV Aug. 0.070 0.040 0.030 0.040 0.016 0.017
Sep. 0.090 0.050 0.030 0.030 0.018 0.022
Oct. 0.360 0.280 0.190 0.260 0.120 0.040
RS NA 0.200 0.100 0.140 0.200 0.100 0.060
a
Extraction hours.
b
Month of harvesting.
NA: not applicable.
SP: Sideritis romana L. subsp. purpurea (Tal. ex Benth.) Heywood.
RS: Ridolfia segetum Moris.
MS: Mentha suaveolens Ehrh.
CG: Calamintha nepeta (L.) Savi subsp. glandulosa (Req.) Ball.
MA: Melissa officinalis L. subsp. altissima (Sibth. & Sm.) Arcangel.
FV: Foeniculum vulgare Miller.
 NATURAL PRODUCT RESEARCH   2391

Table 2. Relative cumulative % yields calculated over time for dried (SP, MA, FV and RS) or fresh plant
material (MS and CG).
 
ha (fraction)
Plant species mb 1 (1) 2 (2) 3 (3) 6 (4) 12 (5) 24 (6)
SP NA 0.011 0.014 0.016 0.020 0.027 0.038
MA Jul. 0.010 0.014 0.016 0.019 0.024 0.030
Aug. 0.020 0.026 0.029 0.033 0.036 0.039
Sep. 0.020 0.026 0.028 0.031 0.034 0.037
MS Jul. 0.030 0.040 0.050 0.050 0.060 0.070
Aug. 0.070 0.090 0.100 0.120 0.150 0.190
Sep. 0.050 0.090 0.090 0.100 0.110 0.180
CG Jul. 0.300 0.350 0.360 0.366 0.370 0.373
Aug. 0.300 0.360 0.400 0.420 0.426 0.432
Sep. 0.190 0.250 0.300 0.360 0.376 0.381
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Oct. 0.180 0.260 0.290 0.320 0.328 0.328

FV Aug. 0.070 0.110 0.140 0.180 0.196 0.213
Sep. 0.090 0.140 0.170 0.200 0.218 0.240
Oct. 0.360 0.640 0.830 1.090 1.210 1.250
RS NA 0.200 0.300 0.440 0.640 0.740 0.800
a
Extraction hours.
b
Month of harvesting.
NA: not applicable.
SP: Sideritis romana L. subsp. purpurea (Tal. ex Benth.) Heywood.
RS: Ridolfia segetum Moris.
MS: Mentha suaveolens Ehrh.
CG: Calamintha nepeta (L.) Savi subsp. glandulosa (Req.) Ball.
MA: Melissa officinalis L. subsp. altissima (Sibth. & Sm.) Arcangel.
FV: Foeniculum vulgare Miller.

Fresh CG plant material was extracted and monitored for 4 months, from July to October,
thus covering periods before, during and after flowering. The results showed different
amounts for each fraction, but usually the largest parts of EOs were extracted in the first 3
or 6 h (Table 1). The EO from July material was extracted in the first 2 h, with no important
yield after. The higher percent of EO was observed in August, which can be explained by
quite extreme temperatures and other ecological conditions during that period. Even the
total yield after 24 h was the highest in August (0.43%), which could as well be explained by
extreme environmental conditions. Yield curves for these 2 months are quite similar to those
of MA (Figure S4). Blooming material from September was characterised by even higher EO
yield, not only in the first three fractions, but also between the third and sixth hour of extrac-
tion. The last one, October material, was mainly in the fruiting phase, continuing to give EO
during the first 6 h of extraction, with no important yield after (Figure S7). Total yields were
more or less the same, highest being in July (Table 2). Regarding the amount of EO produc-
tion, CG is among the most productive plants furnishing after 24 h from 3.4 to 4.3 grams of
EOs per kilogram of harvested plant. Interestingly the amount is low sensitive to the har-
vesting period and most of percentage is obtained in the first fractions reaching more than
90% of extracted EO in 2 or 3 h.
RS is an annual plant and all the material was collected in the end of July, with flowering
and fruiting stages mixed together. Dried RS material was extracted in the same way. As the
result, we had a very unusual yield curve, with the first maximum after the first hour of
extraction, and the second one between the third and sixth hour of the extraction process
(Figure S5, Table 1). Total yield over the entire extraction time is shown in Table 2. The amount
 2392   M. BOŽOVIĆ ET AL.

of extracted EO profile is similar to those of SP and MA with the only difference that at 24 h
the yield is lower than in the previous fractions. In terms of production, after 24 h more than
7 grams of EO can be gathered, being almost uniformly spread among six fractions.
FV was monitored from August to October, including vegetative and reproductive stages,
showing almost no differences in the first 2 months (with almost the same 24-h yields). On
the contrary, a great increase, of up to five times more, in EO content was noticed in October
(Table 2) than when the plant was fruiting (Figure S6). This was quite expected since Apiaceae
species fruits are characterised by the highest EO amounts. What can also be noticed is the
similarity of this month’s yield curve to the RS one (both included fruiting periods). From the
plot in Figure S7, FV is indicated as the plant species producing the highest EO amount,
particularly the material harvested in October, which after 24 h furnished almost 13 grams.
Of these, 65% were obtained after 3 h extraction clearly indicating that for industrial FV oil
manufacture, more than 8 grams per kilogram of plant can be easily produced.
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It was also observed that the fractions changed the colour and density during the process,
becoming darker and more dense, which was most noticeable in the case of CG and RS. That
came as the result of accumulation of more artefacts, directly affecting the physical charac-
teristics of the EOs. Regarding physical and chemical behaviour of the curves reported in
Figures S1–S6, very likely long exposition of the plant material to boiling water is the main
factor for the observed profile. In any case, since this is the very first study for such long
steam distillations, deeper studies are under evaluation to explain the different chemical
constitution of the EOs fractions.

3. Experimental
3.1.  Aims and objectives
According to literature, EOs are mainly obtained by hydro distillation or steam distillation
apparatus for only 3–4 h (optionally 5). On the other hand, most of the data are related to
some specific period of harvesting, e.g. flowering or fruiting periods. During the research
on MS, it was observed that, either shortening or extending the extraction time, a different
chemical composition of the oil could be obtained with some variation in the related bio-
logical activity. As a consequence, to obtain the optimal chemical composition of the oil,
two main questions arise: (1) When should the plant be harvested? and (2) How long should
the extraction time be?
In line with the previous studies on MS (Garzoli et al. 2015), the systematic extraction
procedure was expanded and applied to additional five plant species from Lamiaceae and
Apiaceae families, either annual or perennial. Deeper detail on CG 24H extraction were also
recently reported (Božović et al. 2017) The aim of this study was to develop a systematic EO
extraction system using steam distillation technique, in terms of different harvesting and
extraction times. Having in mind that EO is made up of many distinct compounds which
come together to form its aroma and therapeutic properties, it should be emphasised that
some of these components are chemical susceptible structures that can be altered or
destroyed by adverse environmental conditions. Longer distillation process may give more
complex EO in terms of chemical composition as further artifacts are accumulated. This may
have a curious effect on the physical characteristics of EO (odour, density and colour) and
its associated biological activities. Therefore, we limited our study at 24 h distillation for the
 NATURAL PRODUCT RESEARCH   2393

following reasons: (1) plant material is subjected to degeneration, (2) EOs produced after
6 h are very likely due to hydrolysis phenomena and EOs composition at higher time of
extraction could be a result of some artefact, similarly to that observable for Matricaria
chamomilla L. where the blue compound chamazulene is obtained from matricine degra-
dation (Safayhi et al. 1994).

3.2.  Plant material

A series of aromatic plants from Lamiaceae and Apiaceae families were selected and deemed
adequate considering the research conducted worldwide so far and the results obtained in
this area. Depending on the abundance of their populations, the following species were
considered for investigation and validate the 24-h extraction model: MS, CG, MA and SP from
Lamiaceae family, and FV and RS from Apiaceae family. Aerial parts (herba) were collected
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in summer and early autumn periods of year 2015. All the material was collected in a wild
area about 10 km from Tarquinia city (Viterbo, Italy) except SP which is an endemic of the
Western part of Balkan peninsula and was collected in the urban zone of Podgorica city
(Montenegro). MS and CG oils were extracted from the fresh plant material.
Air-drying of the other collected plants was performed in a shady place for 20 days. SP
and RS are summer annuals with very short vegetative and reproductive periods – they
complete their life cycles within June/July. They have been monitored just in terms of differ-
ent extraction time, not period of harvesting. Other chosen species are perennials – they
have been monitored for three (MS, MA and FV) or 4 months (CG).

3.3.  Species determination

Taxonomic identification of the chosen species was conducted according to the official
European flora (Tutin et al. 1968) and the national Italian one (Pignatti 1982).

3.4.  EO extraction
EOs have been isolated by direct steam distillation using a 62 L steel distillator apparatus
(Albrigi Luigi E0131, Verona, Italy). With this type of steam distillation apparatus, the remain-
ing water (a by-product), called floral water or hydrosol, is recycled after its condensation,
thereby not limiting the process duration. Thus, by modifying the conventional distillation
apparatus, so that water flows from the separation funnel back to the retort (Figure S8), the
loss of oil to wastewater can be reduced (Gonzalez et al. 2012).
Fresh MS and CG material (about 2.5 kg) and dried material of other investigated species
(about 1.7 kg) were subjected to steam distillation, and the EOs were separated at interval
time of 1, 2, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h. At each interval, the accumulated oil/water double phase was
extracted three times with diethyl ether (20 mL). The organic layers were then dried on
anhydrous Na2SO4, filtered and deprived of the solvent in vacuo to furnish oils.

4. Conclusions
Steam distillation is the most common technique which serves to isolate EO from plant
material. Classical distillation procedure is usually reported to be over in 2–4 h. Herein, for
 2394   M. BOŽOVIĆ ET AL.

the first time, is reported a systematic 24-h EO extraction procedure applied to different
plant species and monitored for different harvesting periods. A selection of Lamiaceae and
Apiaceae species has been analysed leading to a conclusion that no rule can be given about
the appropriate duration of steam distillation process. In fact, different plant species have
different EO yields, and the dynamic of oil extraction from plant material could be considered
as species specific. On the other hand, harvesting period is also very important, directly
affecting these parameters. It could be more related to the family than to the species.
Flowering period could be considered as the best for Lamiaceae species. On the contrary,
since Apiaceae fruits are usually very rich in EO, the fruiting stage could be defined as the
optimal period of harvesting.
The study has also included chemical analyses of obtained EOs. The extraction method
applied gave fractions that differ greatly in their chemical compositions (Section S1).
Although the main characterising compounds are usually present in every fraction, variations
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in their amount are particularly evident between the first three fractions (up to 3 h of extrac-
tion process) and the last ones (after 12 or 24 h). Furthermore, some compounds appear
only with the development of the extraction process, and gradually increase in amount,
being significantly present only in the last few fractions. Concerning the period of harvest,
the chemical profile of an EO has been found to be heavily influenced by this factor. In some
cases, the same plant gave EOs that were chemically completely different from each other,
depending on the month in which it was harvested.
In order to monitor the biological variability, EOs were assayed by means of antifungal
activity. Having in mind the processes of synergism and antagonism between EO com-
pounds, overall potential of the isolated EO fractions was evaluated. Longer distillation may
give higher yields, but on the other hand, it may lead to the accumulation of more artefacts.
All of that may have an effect on the physical characteristics of EO as well as on its associated
biological activities. The latter concept has been clearly proved by our results for MS, CG and
FV (Section S1).

Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Mr. Predrag Jovanović for proofreading the paper. This research has been
funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the
authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID
Federico Pepi   http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6617-8192

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