Obtaining Lavender Essential Oil and Lavender Hydroso (Water)

Lavender essential oil is mainly obtained by traditional distillation method. In this process, which is made with steam obtained at high temperature, lavender flowers cut from their stems are placed in boilers, the steam is passed through the plants, then this steam is cooled again and the essential oil and the water bearing the beneficial properties of the plant are separated from each other. Although it is much less preferred, it is possible to obtain essential oil by solvent extraction method. Both methods have disadvantages. The steam distillation method is time consuming and processes performed at high temperatures cause the degradation of thermally unstable compounds in the plant and thus the inability to fully extract the essential oil (Denny, 1988). In the solvent extraction method, unwanted compounds such as waxes, color pigments, and albuminous materials remain in the essential oil and it is almost impossible to obtain a product without solvent residues (Ali, 1991).

Supercritical CO2 extraction, which is the third method used to obtain essential oil from the lavender plant, is an alternative method to traditional extraction methods, and it is an extraction method, without the chemical changes created by high heat and water, and without solvent residues and undesirable compounds such as salt, sugars, amino acids and tannins producing extracts with an the closest to natural aroma (Rzazadeh et al., 2008; Da Porto et al., 2009)₂ .₂ ekstraksiyonu yöntemi, ile elde edilen uçucu yağın daha fazla antioksidan özelliği içerdiği de yapılan bilimsel çalışmalarda gözlemlenmiştir (Danh vd, 2012). Süperkritik CO₂ ekstraksiyonu ve hidrodistilasyon yönteminde uçucu yağın antimikrobiyal aktivitesinin de çözücü ekstraksiyon ile elde edilen yağdan çok daha yüksek olduğu da bulgulanmıştır (Danh vd, 2012).

Although the effect of genetic factors on the yield of lavender essential oil and the compounds it contains is high, applications such as the method used (Sefidkon et al., 2006) the distillation time (Cannon et al., 2013) and the water used in the distillation (Shamspur et al., 2012) are also important. In order to increase the essential oil rate or quality of medicinal and aromatic plants, suitable additives such as Tween 20 (a solvent used in oil-in-water emulsifications), onion juice and salt can be added to the distillation water to increase the essential oil rate (Baydar and Baydar, 2005; Shamspur et al. , 2012).