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. 2020 Sep 7;25(18):4072.
doi: 10.3390/molecules25184072.

Valorization of Sweet Lime Peel for the Extraction of Essential Oil by Solvent Free Microwave Extraction Enhanced with Ultrasound Pretreatment

Yasir Arafat  1 , Ammar Altemimi  2 , Salam Adnan Ibrahim  3 , Laxmikant Shivnath Badwaik  1
Affiliations

Valorization of Sweet Lime Peel for the Extraction of Essential Oil by Solvent Free Microwave Extraction Enhanced with Ultrasound Pretreatment

Yasir Arafat et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Essential oils of sweet lime peel, a waste by-product in the juice industry, were extracted using the vacuum assisted solvent free microwave extraction (VASFME) method. The effects of microwave output power (500-1000 W) and extraction time (20-30 min) on the essential oils yield and antimicrobial property were investigated. Optimal conditions were observed at 797.844 W microwave output power and 30 min extraction time. The essential oils yield and antimicrobial property under these conditions were 0.792 ± 0.03% and 18.25 ± 1.45 mm, respectively, which agrees with the predicted values of 0.757% and 16.50 mm. The essential oils were extracted at optimized conditions and analyzed through GCMS for compound identification. A total of 49 compounds were identified, with limonene content (43.47%) being the highest among all sweet lime peel oil compounds. Moreover, the sweet lime peels were subjected to ultrasound pre-treatment before microwave extraction. The ultrasound pre-treatment helped to increase the essential oils yield from 0.84 to 1.06% as the treatment time increased from 30 to 90 min. The increase in yield was 37.66% more compared to VASFME at 90 min treatment time.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity; essential oil; microwave extraction; sweet lime peel; ultrasound treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effect of process variable on (a) yield (5) and (b) antimicrobial property (mm) against E. coli of essential oil.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic diagram and actual picture of microwave extraction set up.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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