article · Journal of Food Process Engineering
Supercritical fluid extraction was evaluated for recovering essential oil from Mentha spicata mint leaves across varying temperatures, pressures, dynamic times, and leaf particle sizes. Leaf particle size exerted the strongest effect on total oil yield, followed by extraction pressure, temperature, and dynamic processing time. In contrast, pressure was the most critical factor determining carvone concentration within the volatile oil, followed by particle size and dynamic time. Numerical optimisation determined ideal parameters of 48 degrees Celsius, 151 bar pressure, a 0.40 millimetre particle size, and 37.5 minutes of extraction, delivering a 1.4 percent oil yield and 998 milligrams of carvone per 100 grams. A predictive quadratic polynomial model was established for yield and carvone levels. Quality comparisons demonstrated that the supercritical extract had superior antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, as well as moderate activity against Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus.
Essential oils are widely used for flavouring and natural preservation, but traditional extraction methods can degrade valuable components. By defining precise operating conditions for supercritical fluid extraction, this research provides a pathway to extract mint oil rich in carvone with validated antimicrobial performance against common bacteria, offering processors a cleaner and more controlled alternative to standard hydrodistillation.
This research provides applied and tested operational data that industrial processors can use to scale batch supercritical extraction to pilot or large-scale manufacturing. The findings are relevant to industrial manufacturers producing mint oil with high carvone content and antimicrobial properties for food and flavour applications. The work establishes practical parameters of 48 degrees Celsius, 151 bar, 0.40 millimetre particle size, and 37.5 minutes, alongside predictive models to support process scale-up.
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Abstract Supercritical fluid extraction of mint leaves was carried out at different process parameters using central composite rotatable design. The effects of temperature (35–55 °C), pressure (100–300 bar), dynamic time (20–90 min), and particle size (0.2–1.0 mm) were evaluated with respect to essential oil yield and carvone content in volatile oil. The particle size was found to have the most significant effect ( p < 0.05) on essential oil yield followed by pressure, temperature, and dynamic time. Although in case of carvone content, pressure showed the most significant effect ( p < 0.05) followed by particle size and dynamic time. The optimized SFE process parameter obtained though numerical optimization was 48 °C, 151 bar, 0.40 mm and 37.5 min, respectively having essential oil yield of 1.4%, carvone content of 998 mg/100 g and desirability value of 0.53. Quality of essential oil of mint obtained by SFE was compared with hydrodistilled oil. The essential oil obtained using SFE showed highest antimicrobial activity against E. coli and a moderate activity against S. typhi and S. aureus . Practical applications The optimization of SFE process for mint oil extraction using response surface methodology approach is presented in the present study. The data obtained can be useful for scale up of batch scale SFE extraction of mint oil to a pilot or large scale system. A quadratic polynomial equation was developed, which can predict the oil yield as well as carvone content of mint leaves within the studied domain of the experimental SFE conditions. From the results obtained from this study, SFE can be used in industry for producing mint oil having high carvone content. The recommended operating condition for mint oil extraction is temperature 48 °C, pressure 151 bar, particle size of mint leaves 0.40 mm and dynamic extraction time of 37.5 min.
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DOI: 10.1111/jfpe.12488
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