A modified microwave hydrodistillation and simultaneous extraction in a rotating state to obtain essential oil, rosmarinic acid, and polysaccharides with sucrose stearate as an additive from Perilla frutescens

An improved approach was developed to obtain essential oil, rosmarinic acid, and polysaccharides with sucrose stearate as a green additive from Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt. Leaves using microwave-induced hydrodistillation and simultaneous extraction (MHDE). In this process, we realize the rotation of the material through a rotary motor so that the material is uniformly irradiated by microwaves. The influencing factors on MHDE were systematically optimized by single factor and central composite design. Under the obtained optimization conditions, the yields of essential oil, rosmarinic acid, and polysaccharides were 0.64% ± 0.03%, 0.18% ± 0.01%, and 4.35% ± 0.19%, respectively. GC-MS analysis results showed that the main component of essential oil prepared by MHDE was perillaldehyde, which accounted for 51.91% of the total essential oil, followed by caryophyllene, accounting for 15.79%. However, the ratio of perillaldehyde in the essential oil obtained by traditional hydrodistillation and extraction (HDE) was only 40.69%, and the proportion of caryophyllene was only 12.50%. MHDE uses sucrose stearate with a long hydrocarbon chain structure as an additive, which reduces the nonterpene aliphatics in the obtained essential oil.