ABSTRACT
The essential oil of Persian black cumin was extracted using static supercritical CO2 technique at different temperatures, extraction times, and number of extractions. The composition of extracted oil was measured by GC-MS analysis and 25 components were identified. It was found that the oil recovery was reduced by increasing the temperature. Maximum recovery was achieved at two-step extraction that was about 49%. Both dissolution rate and solubility limited the oil recovery at the tested extraction conditions. The oxygenate components have less dissolution rate than the terpenes. The application of experimental data for design of an efficient dynamic extraction system was discussed.
Acknowledgments
The GC/MS analysis of the extracted essential oils was done in the Department of Phytochemistry of Medicinal Plants and Drugs, Research Institute of Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, which is acknowledged.