INFLUENCE OF THE EQUIPMENT IN THE EXTRACTION OF THE LEAF ESSENTIAL OIL OF Corymbia citriodora (Hook.) K. D. HILL AND L. A. S. JOHNSON

The essential oil of Corymbia citriodora (Hook.) has a wide application in industry, mainly due to the high concentration of citronellal present in the extracted oil, which gives the species an intense and pleasant odor. The present work aimed to evaluate the influence of the equipment used to extract the essential oil from C. citriodora leaves using steam distillation and the influence of this variation on the extraction efficiency of the compounds. Extractions were carried out for 1 h and 4 h, using two extraction systems, the traditional Clevenger apparatus and a Developed System. The type of system had no significant effect on the yield of extracted essential oil. However, both the type of system and the extraction time influenced the individual contents and extracted masses of some of the main components of the essential oil. This indicates the potential for developing a system in which operational parameters can be modulated, allowing the extraction and purification of essential oil components from C. citriodora leaves in a single step.