My final year undergraduate research is "Extraction and yield optimization of essential oil from clove." In this, I am currently using clove bud to extract clove essential oil. The extraction method is currently using the hydro distillation method. In this, I soaked the clove bud powder in deionized water and used no other chemicals. When the oil mixture extracted from it, that is, the distillate, is left for a while or overnight, the two layers do not separate like normal oil; the oil also comes out as droplets in the water. I saw a reference that said that diethyl ether is used to separate the oil layer from the water. Then the ether layer is separated because it contains the oil. Then the separated sample is heated to remove the diethyl ether and separate the pure oil sample. Because the boiling point of diethyl ether is 34 degrees Celsius. I also tried it that way. However, since diethyl ether is a toxic compound, clove oil should be human-friendly and not harmful to health when we use clove oil for any application. We are doing this in a university lab, so we don't have advanced instruments or many chemicals. So please give me a good idea for this. Is there a good replacement for diethyl ether or the best way to do this?
Hi,
I believe there is no need for solvent extraction oil is immiscible in water try to separate by specific gravity using separating funnel.
In industrial production they do the same.
with my best wishes.
Safer and easier methods to separate clove essential oil in hydrodistillation are given below:
Hexane Extraction: Instead of diethyl ether, use hexane as the solvent. Mix the distillate with hexane, and then separate layers in a funnel. Evaporate hexane under mild heat.
Salt Saturation: Add saturated salt solution to the distillate, and it increases the density that makes oil separate. Skim the oil layer.
Centrifugation: Spin the distillate at 3000–5000 RPM to separate oil droplets from water.
Freeze Separation: Freeze the distillate; water will solidify, leaving liquid oil.
Direct Skimming: Let the distillate sit to concentrate oil droplets on the surface and skim manually.
Vacuum Evaporation: Use a vacuum pump to evaporate residual water safely.
Choose a method based on safety, simplicity, and equipment availability. Avoid excessive heat to preserve oil quality.
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