The extraction of rosemary essential oil by microwave-assisted hydrodistillation method

Abstract Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) has been a significant herb and was used as an antiseptic, astringent, antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, etc. This study determined the effect of material-water ratio, material size, distillation time, and power of microwave on the obtained yield of rosemary essential oil extracted by microwave-assisted hydrodistillation method. The results show the optimum extraction condition at 1:1 of feed-water ratio, 380W of distillation power, 25 minutes distillation, and 0.3cm of material size with the optimal extracted yield of 2.7%. The major components are α-pinene (22.277%), verbenole (16.488%), 1,8-cineole (16.256%) and geraniol (5.705%), which would be a potential material for cosmetic and pharmaceutical products caused their activities such as antioxidant, antibacterial, antiseptic, reduce anxiety.