A Study on Oil Extraction from Albanian Chamomile and Characterization by IR Spectroscopy

Abstract

Albania is recognized for its natural bio-resources such as medicinal and aromatic plants. It is a considerable producer of herbs including common sage, raspberry leaf, thyme, oregano, and chamomile. The mountainous relief and Mediterranean climate are the main factors for having such an ecosystem diversity and biodiversity. Extraction of essential oil from M. recutica L. is carried out using a Soxhlet technique. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is used a solvent for the extraction under near critical conditions, since it is physiologically harmless, environmentally safe and it can be easily removed from products. Additionally, hexane is used as well for the Soxhlet extraction and the yield of the obtained extract is compared with yield of the extract obtained with liquid CO2. FTIR analysis indicated presence of matricine, dicycloether and α-bisabolol as organic components present in the essential oil of M. recutica L.