Browsing by Author "Gebremichael, Gebrehiwot"

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    Production, Optimization and Characterization of Essential Oil From Spearmint Leaves
    (Addis Ababa University, 2019-06) Gebremichael, Gebrehiwot; Abubeker, Yimam (PhD)
    The national consumption of essential oils in Ethiopia is increasing very fast. Production technology is an essential element to improve the overall yield and quality of essential oil. The objective of this study was the production, optimization and characterization of oil from spearmint leaves using hydro distillation method. The effect of three factors, drying methods (shade, sun and oven drying), drying duration (0, 3 and 7 days) and distillation time (1, 1.5 and 2 hours) on the oil yield was investigated. This paper includes the physical properties of spearmint oil like, density (0.915), refractive index (1.43), pH (6.06) and dynamic viscosity (0.47mPaS).And the chemical properties; saponification value (41.83), acid value (0.045), peroxide value (0.67) and iodine value (17.8) were determined. Design expert software was used to optimize the oil yield and examine the effect of the three factors. General factorial design was chosen for the above mentioned optimization as well as for the data analysis (ANOVA).Then from this study, the best operating conditions are found as drying method (shade), drying time (7 days) and a distillation time of 2 hours. At this condition, a maximum yield of 2.27 % oil is obtained. This research also determined the chemical composition of the oil. From GC/MS result 41 components were obtained.