Extraction of Essential Oil from Cinnamon by Subcritical Water

Subcritical water extraction(SWE) of essential oil from cinnamon was studied by self-made apparatus.Effects of different extraction conditions on the extraction yield of cinnamon essential oil were investigated.The optimal conditions of extraction of cinnamon essential oil with subcritical water were established by response surface methodology.They were material mass 175 g,material size 0.3 mm,temperature 132 ℃,extraction time 38 min and pressure 5 MPa.Under the above conditions,the extraction yield of cinnamon oil was 1.83 %,and the yield of cinnamaldehyde was 1.152 1 %.Compared with the conventional steam distillation(SD),the extraction time by SWE was a sixth of that by steam distillation,but the extraction yield of cinnamon oil increased 15.8%,and the yield of cinnamaldehyde increased 28.4 %.