Effects of different drying methods on the yield and the composition of essential oil from herb Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudso

Abstract

Stanisavljević, D.M., Đorđević, S.M., Ristić, M.S., Veličković, D.T., Ranđelović, N.V.: Effects ofdifferent drying methods on the yield and the composition of essential oil from herb Mentha longifolia (L.)Hudson. Biologica Nyssana, 1 (1-2), December 2010: 89-93.

This paper discusses the impact of different methods of drying on the content and chemical composition ofthe essential oil from the herb Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudson. Drying of plant material was carried outnaturally in the shade of draughty place, in the laboratory oven at the temperature 45°C and absorptive lowtemperature condensation drying oven at 35°C (low temperature drying). Isolation of essential oil from driedsamples in three different ways was conducted by hydrodistillation, whilst chemical analysis was carried outby GC/FID and GC/MS methods. The highest yield of the essential oil was obtained from the herb which wasdried at low temperature (1.1%) and the lowest from that dried in the laboratory oven (0.6%). The biggestcontent of the dominant component of essential oils, piperitone, was recorded in the oil from low temperaturedried herb (71.7%), while those isolated from naturally dried drug and in from the laboratory oven containedpiperitone in lower concentrations (50.8% and 43.1%, respectively).

Key words: drying, essential oil, Mentha longifolia L., piperiton