A Comparative Approach: Chemical Composition of the Essential Oils from Aerial Partsof Citrus aurantiumby Using Microwave Assisted Hydrodistillation and TraditionalHydrodistillation Methods

Citrus essential oils are a mixture of volatile compounds and consist mainly of monoterpenehydrocarbons, So far, few studies have been conducted on the application of new isolation techniques foressential oils of Citrus fruits(۷). In the present study, the potential of the Microwave-assistHydrodistilation technique has been compared with conventional hydrodistillation method as the currenttechnique and commercial situation call for research into new extracts and new extraction techniques.Thecompositions of the oils from both methods were analyzed using GC/MS. Identification of all componentswas performed by a comparison of their mass spectra with literature data (NIST and WILEY) and bycomparison of their retention indices (RI) with those in the literature [۱, ۲].The oil extracted by MAHDmethod contained ۲۴ compounds with a yield of ۰.۵% (w/w), representing ۹۹.۷۳% of the total oil. ۱۲compounds were identified in the volatiles from the aerial parts of Citrus aurantium by HD methodcomprising ۹۹.۹% of the total oil in ۰.۱% (w/w) yield. The main components of the water distilled oilwere found to Camphor (۴۶.۲۳ %), Terpinen-۴-ol (۹.۷), α-Terpineol (۸.۷ %), trans-Caryophyllene (۷.۶ %)and Farganol (۷.۲ %) while the oil extracted by MWHD method was mainly composed of be α-terpineol(۳۳.۲۸ %), camphor (۱۰.۲۴ %), α-Thujene (۵.۸۵ %), Pinocarvone (۳.۳۵ %), trans-Pinocarveol (۳.۲۱ %).