Abstract

The evaluation of the optimum conditions for extraction of Pistacia lentiscus essential oil by hydro-distillation process required a design of experiments (DOE). The selected factors of composite design are the time of hydro-distillation and the ratio of the plant material and wa-ter. Response surface methodology was used to evaluate the effects of processing parameters and the extraction yields varied in the range of 0.4 – 0.58 % (w/w) under different conditions. This study proved high efficiency of the response surface methodology application to optim-ize the operational parameters influencing the yield of essential oil extracted by hydro-distillation process of Pistcia lentiscus L. leaves To get a better essential oil yield with the most economic operating parameters.

Key words: Pistacia lentiscus, essential oil, hydro-distillation, composite design, response surface