ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Effect of different hydrodistillation pretreatments on the yield, chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant potential of nutmeg and mace (Myristica fragrans Houtt.) essential oils

Vishaldeep Kaur, Sonia Kaushal, Anu Kalia, and Heena

Department of Chemistry, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India

E-mail: drsonia@pau.edu

Received: 24 July 2023  Accepted: 9 October 2023

Abstract:

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of four hydrodistillation (HD) pretreatments named as microwave assisted extraction (MAE), ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE), micelle mediated extraction (MME) and salt assisted extraction (SAE) on the yield, chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant potential of nutmeg and mace (Myristica fragrans Houtt.) essential oils. All the HD pretreatments increased the yield of nutmeg and mace essential oils compared to HD without pretreatment. The maximum yield of mace and nutmeg essential oils were obtained by UAE pretreatment (14.5 and 6.3%) at 250 W for 30 min followed by MAE (14.1 and 5.8%) at 400 W for 10 min, MME (13.2 and 5.2%) by the addition of tween 40 (15%) and SAE (12.3 and 4.8%) by adding NaCl (150 g) pretreatments. The conventional HD took 185 and 120 min for the complete extraction of mace and nutmeg essential oils respectively. But, MAE-HD took the least time (70 and 60 min) followed by UAE-HD (126 and 95 min), MME-HD (160 and 110 min) and SAE (172 and 115 min) pretreatments for the complete extraction of mace and nutmeg essential oils respectively. Moreover, both the essential oils extracted by MAE pretreatment exhibited maximum antimicrobial and antioxidant potential as compared to other HD pretreatments. Hence, MAE can be effectively used as a pretreatment for the extraction of essential oils from nutmeg and mace by hydrodistillation.

Keywords: Hydrodistillation pretreatments; Essential oil; Myristica fragrans Houtt.; Antibacterial activity; Antioxidant activity

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-023-03151-1

Chemical Papers 78 (2) 1125–1138 (2024)