Effect of ultrasound-assisted extraction of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil

The ultrasonic waves applied in the extraction of lemongrass essential oil in order to determine the effect of extraction parameters on yield of essential oil and determine an appropriate extraction regime. The experiments were conducted at various levels of material: solvent ratio from 1:0.6 to 1:0.9, the extraction time varies from 45 - 90 minutes, the temperature varies from 50 - 80 oC, and the ultrasonic power varies from 0 - 40 W. The results have determined the effects of the parameters on the yield of essential oil and determined an appropriate extraction regime with the ratio of lemongrass : solvent is 1:0.75, extraction time is 75 minutes, extraction temperature is 80 oC and ultrasonic power is 30 W, the yield of essential oil reaches 0.942%. The study shown that ultrasound-assisted extraction method for lemongrass essential oil is a green technology because of their fewer energy requirements and improve the quality product. Keywords: lemongrass, essential oil, extraction time, temperature, ultrasonic power.