Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of Angelica archangelica L. root oil

Angelica (var. Angelica archangelica L.) oil was isolated from grated fresh roots of the plant by supercritical fluid extraction using carbon dioxide and a two-stage fractional separation system. Throughout the extraction process the pressure and temperature were maintained at 120 bar and 40 degrees C: respectively. A 1 h static extraction step was followed by a 2 h dynamic extraction conducted at a flow rate of 0.5 kg h(-1). The extracted material was characterized by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry using three different mass spectra libraries. More than 200 compounds were found in the extracted oil, of which 118 compounds were positively identified and four other compounds tentatively identified. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.