Supercritical extraction of essential oil from aniseed (Pimpinella anisum L) using CO2:: Solubility, kinetics, and composition data

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) from aniseed using carbon dioxide was performed at 30 degreesC and pressures of 80-180 bar. The chemical composition of the SFE extract was determined by GC-MS; the quantitative analysis was done by GC-FID and TLC. The total amount of extractable substances or global yield (mass of extract/mass of feed) for the SFE process varied from 3.13 to 10.67% (mass). The solubilities of the anise essential oil in CO2 were 0.0110, 0.0277, 0.0143, and 0.0182 kg of solute/kg of CO2 at 80, 100, 140, and 180 bar, respectively. The major compounds identified and quantified in the extracts were anethole (similar to90%), gamma-himachalene (2-4%), p-anisaldehyde (<1%), methylchavicol (0.9-1.5%), cis-pseudoisoeugenyl 2-methylbutyrate (similar to3%), and trans-pseudoisoeugenyl 2-methylbutyrate (similar to1.3%). The Sovova model described quite well the experimental overall extraction curves.