Apart from traditional distillation processes, the following are the modern distillation methods for extraction of essential oils.
Modern (Non-traditional) Methods of Extraction of Essential Oils Traditional methods of extraction of essential oils have been discussed and these are the methods most widely used on commercial scale. However, with technological advancement, new
techniques have been developed which may not necessarily be widely used for commercial production of essential oils but are considered valuable in certain situations, such as the production of costly essential oils in a natural state without any alteration of their thermosensitive components or the extraction of essential oils for micro-analysis. These techniques are as follows:
• Headspace trapping techniques
- Static headspace technique
- Vacuum headspace technique
- Dynamic headspace technique
• Solid phase micro-extraction (SPME)
• Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE)
• Phytosol (phytol) extraction
• Protoplast technique
• Simultaneous distillation extraction (SDE)
• Microwave distillation
• Controlled instantaneous decomposition (CID)
• Thermomicrodistillation
• Microdistillation
• Molecular spinning band distillation
• Membrane extraction