DEVELOPING A KINETIC MODEL FOR MICROWAVE HYDRO DIFFUSION AND GRAVITY WITH STEAM FLOW ON EXTRACTION OF ESSENTIAL OILS FROM Amomum compactum SEEDS

Lampung cardamom (Amomum compactum) has the potential to produce essential oils used for aromatherapy, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical purposes. This research aims to study the kinetics model that can represent the extraction process using the MHG method with the addition of steam flow. The operating variables considered include microwave power (300-600 W), extraction time (20-180 minutes), and the feed-to-distiller volume (F/D) ratio (0.15-0.2 g/ml). To determine the best model for describing the essential oil extraction process from local cardamom seeds using the MHG method, six kinetic models were analyzed: first-order, second-order, power law, hyperbolic, Weibull, and Elovich’s. The results show that the Weibull model is the most accurate for representing the extraction process. This conclusion is based on its superior statistical performance, with the highest coefficient of determination (R²) among the models, averaging 0.9933, and the lowest sum of squared errors (SSE), averaging 0.0072. Furthermore, the Weibull D parameter reveals that extraction efficiency increases as the F/D ratio rises, enabling the process to reach its maximum efficiency more rapidly. These findings underscore the suitability of the Weibull model for effectively capturing the dynamics of essential oil extraction from Lampung cardamom seeds.