INFLUENCE OF EXTRACTION METHODS ON THE YIELD AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF ESSENTIAL OIL OF PLATYCLADUS ORIENTALIS (L.) FRANCO.

Platycladus orintalis (L.) Franco belongs to Cupressaceae family. This species is an important herb in chinese medicine as a hemostatic, expectorant, and cough remedy. Mono and sesquiterpenoids in essential oils of different parts of the plant were previously reported as chemical constituents of this plant. The aim of this work was to compare the influence of steam distillation (SD) and steam distillation solvent extraction (SDE) methods on the essential oils composition of different parts of the plant. The essential oils from different parts (leaves, branches, fruits) of P. orientalis were obtained by SD and SDE methods separately. The essential oils were analyzed for identification of the components by GC and GC-MS instruments. The main components of all essential oils were determined as ?α-pinene, δ-3-carene, sabinene and cedrol. Significant differences between two methods were recorded in the oxygenated constituents percentages. The SDE method showed a higher recovery of these compounds. The recovery of oxygenated compounds is higher in SDE method than SD method. The results indicated that SDE is more selective than the conventional steam distillation method in the extraction of oxygenated monoterpenes in essential oil.