Extraction of Essential oil from Curry leaves

Abstract

Murraya koenigii (Curry leaves) contain many useful chemical constituents. The leaves which known as daun kari in malaysia is belong to family Rutaceace and can be found in Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka. The aim of this study to characterize the components of essential oil of the leaves and compare yield percentage of the oil which is extracted from steam distillation and hydro-distillation. The essential oil is extracted by steam distillation and hydro-distillation. The amount of leaves and water used were 350gm and 1000ml. The time of extraction for both methods 3 to 6 hours. The yield between these two methods were compared. The result shows that the percentage yield for steam distillation method is higher compared to conventional method which is hydro distillation method. The components identification for this essential oil is perform by GC-MS (Gas chromatography and Mass spectroscopy).