EXTRACTION AND FORMULATION OF PERFUME FROM PLANTS

EXTRACTION AND FORMULATION OF PERFUME FROM PLANTS

Solvent extraction, enfleurage and hydrodistillation methods are effective and efficient means of extracting essential oils. Solvent extraction is the most common and most  economically technique for extracting oil in modern  perfume  industry  because  of  its  simplicity.    Extraction  by enfleurage  was  commonly  used  when  distillation  was  not  possible because  some  fragrant  compounds  denature  through  high  heat.  This technique is not commonly used in modern industries because of its prohitive cost.  The essential oil extracted by hydrodistillation has strong odor characteristics of the raw material from which they were produced. When compared with other methods of  extraction. It is cheaper because the cost involved is that of energy used in heating water to generate steam.  Water  itself  is  the  commonest  material  easily  available  from nature supply or other alternative sources. 

There is high demand for essential oils for various purposes such as medicinal, perfumery, soap making, insectides to mention but a few. Imported essential oils are very expensive to meet the demand of our

 local consumer industries, therefore it becomes necessary to source and synthesis these oils from local sources, in particular lemon grass.

With essential oils made from lemon grass, perfume can be produced locally  using  different  methods  of  extraction,  thereby  creating employment.