CO2-extraction is known to produce high grade essential oils with authentic composition.
A further improvement was however possible by introducing a so-called liquid counter currant washing (LCCW) system as an additional separation step.
The problem is that a small proportion of volatile components is not precipitated but re-circulated with the CO2-flow in the closed extraction system. This is due to the vapour pressure of the essential oil.
The efficacy of the LCCW system is demonstrated by improving the extraction yield from 0.6to0.75percent during an industrial scale basil leaf extraction. In the normal separator 68percent of the extract were collected and 32percent in the second LCCW separator.
Both fractions were GC analysed on a non-polar phase which separates the oil components according to their volatility.
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Flavex Naturextrakte GmbH is based in Rehlingen, Germany. www.flavex.com
