DryDIST


	Milestone microwave extraction systems - DryDIST


	The new DryDIST microwave labstation takes advantage of the unique SFME technology developed at the Laboratory of Chemistry of Natural Substances and Food Sciences at the University of Reunion, to provide researchers with an innovative, rapid extraction method for essential oils

Rapid Extraction
The first essential oil droplets appear after 5-8 minutes against 60-90 minutes by hydrodistillation (HD). Thirty minutes with SFME provides comparable yields to those obtained with 3-6 hours by HD
High Purity Extracts
Reduction of both extraction time and amount of water reduces deterioration of compounds and presence of byproducts
Results Comparable to HD
SFME provides extracts with to HD chemical compositions comparable to HD (International Patent Pending)
Comparison to traditional methods
SFME is a microwave accelerated dry distillation process for extraction of essential oils from aromatic herbs, spices and dry seed..SFME is not a conventional microwave extraction that utilise polar or non-polar solvents nor a modified HD

The DryDIST is a laboratory engineered microwave labstation combining state-of-the-art microwave hardware with an advanced computer controlled infrared temperature system and with SFME technology.
The plant material is placed in a microwave reactor in the absence of any solvent or water. The microwave-generated heating of the water molecules within the plant material distends it causing the gland and oleiferous receptacles to burst. The essential oils are freed and stripped away by azeotropic distillation with the evaporating "in-situ" water of the plant material. A cooling system outside the microwave cavity continuously condenses the distillates. The condensates are guided to a bypass and the excess water is refluxed back to the sample in the reactor. Complete distillation is carried out in approximately 20-30 minutes for aromatic herbs and 40-60 minutes for spices


	A comparison of the qualitative and quantitative composition of the essential oils obtained by HD and SFME

AROMATIC PLANTS	Solvent-free Microwave Extraction		Hydro-distillation		Comparsion ratio (%) MW/HD
AROMATIC PLANTS	Time (min)	Yield (%)	Time (min)	Yield (%)
Rosmarinus officinalis	12	0.286	180	0.167	171
Mentha crispa	12	0.72	180	0.044	164
Thymus vulgaris	12	0.273	180	0.169	162
Ocimum basilicum	12	0.010	180	0.008	125