Supercritical fluid extraction of vetiver roots: A study of SFE kinetics

The volatile oils from the Vetiveria zizanioides oil are particularly appreciated in perfume and cosmetic products but may also be used in the food industry as aroma and flavor agent. The objective of this work was to study the improvement over the conventional process on the quantity and quality of vetiver extracts recovered by supercritical technology (SFE). The pressure effect (100-300 bar) at 40 degrees C, and the influence of amount of ethanol used as cosolvent (0, 5 and 10%, v/v) were studied. Supercritical extraction process was compared to the hydrodistillation, based on vetiver extract quantity and quality; SFE extracts and presented khusimol contents of 14-29% over hydrodistillation and for SFE, the global yields and kinetic parameters obtained using 10% (v/v) of ethanol were statistically different from extraction using 0 and 5% of ethanol. The TLC and GC showed similar chemical profiles for SFE and HID, but were aware some compounds that were observed by TLC just during the t(CER) region. Mathematical modeling was performed for vetiver kinetics obtained by SFE + cosolvent and Sovova model showed the best adjusts for all curves. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.