A preliminary study of patchouli oil extraction by microwave air-hydrodistillation method

Patchouli oil extraction in general is still using conventional methods that require a long time of extraction. It is therefore necessary to develop extraction methods to obtain patchouli oil with optimum yield and quality. One of the new methods, which has been successfully developed, is microwave hydrodistillation (MHD). In addition to optimizing the extraction process of patchouli oil, this study also used microwave air-hydrodistillation (MAHD). Based on the research results, extraction using MAHD method can produce higher yield of patchouli oil when compared using MHD method. Also, based on the results of the analysis by GC-MS, extraction using MAHD method can produce quality of patchouli oil that is almost the same when compared using MHD method. This is supported by the results of the analysis by GC-MS, which showed that the content of patchouli alcohol is the main component of patchouli oil, and is almost the same for patchouli oil extracted using MHD method (26.32%) and MAHD method (25.23%).