Comparison of essential oils of clove buds extracted with supercritical carbon dioxide and other three traditional extraction methods

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of essential oil from clove buds with CO2 was explored. The effect of different parameters, such as temperature (30 °C, 40 °C, 50 °C), pressure(10 MPa, 20 MPa, 30 MPa) and particle size (three degree index), on the extraction yield and the content of eugenol in extracts was investigated using three-level orthogonal array design. The experimental results show that the temperature has the largest effect on the eugenol content of the extracts, and particle size has the maximum effect on the oil yield. The essential oil of 19.56% yield, in which the maximum content of eugenol in extracts is 58.77%, can be extracted from clove buds at pressure of 10 MPa and temperature of 50 °C. Essential oil of clove buds obtained by SFE, hydrodistillation, steam distillation and Soxhlet extraction were further analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometric detection to compare the extraction methods. Twenty three compounds in the clove oils have been identified, showing that the composition of the clove oil extracted by different methods is mostly similar, whereas relative concentration of the identified compounds is apparently different. General characteristics of the clove oils obtained by different methods were further compared, and SFE is considered as the optimum process among the four processes for obtaining clove oil with high quality.