Innovative methods for extraction of essential oils from medicinal plants

Abstract

Essential oils are concentrated liquids of intricate combinations of volatile substances, extracted from various plant parts. Several bioactive substances with antibacterial and antioxidant activities are abundant in essential oils. Some essential oils have also been employed in medicine. Due to the risk associated with employing synthetic preservatives, the use of essential oils as natural additives for extending the shelf life of food products has also drawn considerable attention. They are used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries for their functional properties. There are various methods for extraction, but both the quality and the percentage yield of essential oil never remain the same. So, innovative and non-conventional techniques of essential oils extraction from medicinal plants were evoled to get quantitative and qualitative yield. In the present article, we searched and reviewed innovative techniques used for the extraction of essential oils from medicinal and aromatic plants through electronic searches of PubMed, Medline, Wiley, Scopus, and Google Scholar. For the extraction of essential oils, several innovative/non-conventional techniques have been reported in literature. Extraction of essential oil by using innovative techniques retards the risk of losing the essential components of plants, maintains the quality, reduces chemical risk, extraction time, acts eco-friendly, and increases the percentage yield of the essential oils. This paper presents the success story of innovative extraction methods of essential oils in accordance with sustainable development and environmental protection.