Cold press method and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of bitter orange essential oil were studied using fresh bitter orange peel as raw material and CO2 as solvent. The influence of extraction method (cold press or SFE) on the Limonene extraction yield was found out. Moreover, the influence of different operation conditions was analysed in the pressure range from 100 to 300 atm and at temperatures 35, 45 and 55 °C for a static time of 20 minutes. In these experiments, the duration of dynamic time was varied from 15 to 35 minutes and the concentration of co-solvent (methanol) was increased from 0 to 10% (V/V). Limonene was the principal component extracted, the optimum conditions for extraction being P=300 atm, T=45°C, td=15min and Cco-solvent=10% (V/V). In these conditions, the yield of limonene extraction and the composition of extracted essential oil are different for cold press method and SFE. Comparing the two methods, SFE better resulted on the Limonene extraction yield.
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