Comparison of (HS-SPME) method and innovative microwave-assisted steam hydro-diffusion (MSHD) method in extraction of volatile compounds and essential oils from medicinal plants and aromatic herbs

Subject Areas : Ecophysiology & Phytochemistry of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

sayedeh mansoureh memarzadeh ¹ , Abdollah Ghasemi pirbalouti ² , Ali Gholami ³ , Sayed Ahmad Nourbakhsh ⁴

1 - Food laboratory, food and drug deputy , shahrekord university of medical scienc, Kashani street. shahrekord ,Iran
2 - Islamic azad university, shahre-qods,Tehran, Iran
3 - Faculty of chemistry, university of Kashan, Kashan, Iran
4 - Department of Nutrition - Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences - Shahrekord - Iran

Received: 2023-03-07 Accepted : 2023-06-16 Published : 2023-06-21

Keywords: Essential oil, extraction, Micro extraction, Microwave, Satureja, Volatile compounds,

Abstract :

Introduction: Medicinal plants are those plants whose organs have effective medicinal compounds. Due to the good clinical experiences, these plants have a special place in treatment and do not have destructive effects on the environment. Secondary metabolites have a great effect on plant protection, and essential oils are an important group of secondary compounds. Since the extraction method is effective on the yield, percentage and type of chemical compounds obtained from medicinal, spicy and aromatic plants and also the examination of different plants is done based on their chemical profile, so the purpose of this research is to compare the chemical profile of the Bakhtiari savory. Satureja bachtiarica Bunge. as a species of Lamiaceae family by head space solid phase micro extraction (HS-SPME) and microwave –assisted steam hydro-diffusion (MSHD) method.Experimental:  The aerial parts of Satureja bachtiarica Bunge. were collected in the beginning of May from the mountans of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province up to 5 cm above the ground level in 2021, and after confirming the herbarium number and drying in standard conditions, essential oil extraction was performed in a special balloon (patent number: 89031 in Iran) in a microwave device. And the obtained essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometery (GC/MS). The amount of 0.5 grams of the plant was directly tested in a 20 ml glass vial for 20 minutes at 85 degrees Celsius by (HS-SPME/GC/MS). No more than 5 days have passed since the plant was prepared.Results and Disscussion: The results of statistical tests showed a significant difference in the chemical profile of essential oils obtained from two different extraction methods (p≤0.05). The highest amount of hydrocarbon monoterpenes was obtained from the (HS-SPME) method, while the highest amount of oxygenated monoterpenes was obtained from the (MSHD) method. There was a significant difference between the main compounds of essential oils obtained from different extraction methods, including thymol, carvacrol, para-cymene, gamma-terpinene (p≤0.05). The highest percentage of p-cymene and Ɣ-terpinene was related to the (HS-SPME) method, while the two main compounds of the essential oil, thymol and carvacrol, had a significant decrease in this method. In addition, the highest amount of thymol and carvacrol was obtained from the (MSHD) method. The advantages of this innovative extraction method are reduction of extraction time (30 minutes), high yield of essential oil (1.2%), energy saving (consumed energy 0.53 kWh), increase of oxygenated monoterpenes (68.06 ±3.75%), antioxidant activity and high amount of total phenol. Microwave-assisted steam hydro diffusion (MSHD) is the optimal method for extraction of essential oil from Bakhtiari savory. In the microwave-assisted extraction method, short extraction time, energy saving, high efficiency, and good quality of the obtained essential oil have made this "Green and eco-friendly technology " as a promising tool for extracting essential oils from medicinal plants and aromatic herbs in pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic, health and perfumery industries.In the phytochemical analysis of Satureja bachtiarica Bunge. by (HS-SPME) method, the amount of hydrocarboned monoterpenes increased significantly (75.73 ± 1.54%), it can be concluded that (HS-SPME) method is a reliable, simple and unique method for Identification and measurement of volatile and light compounds in medicinal, spicy and aromatic plants.