Rose Cohobation Distillation Processing and Advantage

Distillation is the most commonly used method for extracting essential oils, and is divided into steam distillation and water distillation. Distillation) In fact, according to the description of many medical books, distillation is the only way to extract essential oils. The essence obtained by other methods is called essence or original essence.

Steam distillation: Plant materials are mostly placed on the sieve rack in the distiller. Generally, flowers, leaves and other plant parts can be put in directly (if they are processed by other methods, the composition of essential oils will change. For example, rose and lemon balm are relatively fragile and cannot be processed. But some plant essential oils are different, such as chamomile, which needs to be dried first.) Then at the bottom of the container, low-pressure heated and burned steam is poured upward. When the hot steam fills the container and surrounds the plant, the essential oil will break through the oil storage cells of the plant and be released, and pass through the condenser above with the water vapor, and finally be introduced into the condenser. The condenser is a spiral tube surrounded by cold water, which can cool the steam and convert it into water, and finally flow into the collection bottle below, and then separate it into essential oil and floral water according to the difference in specific gravity and density. Water) (also known as pure dew, pure honey). The disadvantage of this method is that the temperature of the distillation method is too high, which can easily destroy some of the more fragile components in the essential oil. This makes the fragrance of the extracted essential oil different from the aromatic essence contained in the original plant, especially ginger and black pepper essential oils. Some pungent plants that originally have a strong pungent smell usually have their smell destroyed by the heat of distillation.

Some essential oils may need to be re-distilled to extract important components. This method is called "reflux distillation" (Cohobation). For example, after the rose is distilled, the water-soluble "phenylethylalcohol" in the rose will remain in the flower water, so the rose water has a strong rose flavor, but the rose essential oil lacks the most important ingredient, so the rose water must be distilled again, the "phenylethylalcohol" is taken out, and then put back into the essential oil obtained from the first distillation. At this time, the result of the two distillation processes becomes the well-known "Rose Otto".

If some essential oils, such as eucalyptus and white dry layer, still have impurities after the initial distillation, they need to be distilled again or multiple times to ensure purity without impurities. This method is called "Rectification Distillation". This is a re-distillation process. In addition to removing trace residues such as dust, it can also reduce the suspicion of pesticides or herbicides. However, from the perspective of aromatherapy, rectified essential oils do not necessarily have better quality and efficacy. In addition, some essential oils rely on the time of distillation to determine the grade of the essential oil, which uses "Fractional Distillation"

Rose cohobation distillation is a process used to extract rose oil. Here is an introduction to its processing and advantages:

Processing

Charging materials: Put rose petals and water into the distillation kettle at a certain ratio, usually with a proportion of 1:4.

Heating for distillation: First, use indirect steam to heat the mixture to 70 - 80 °C, and then switch to direct steam to heat it to boiling. The distillation lasts for 2.5 - 3 hours, and the distillation speed is controlled at 8% - 10% of the volume of the distillation kettle.

Cooling and separation: The distillate passes through a condenser and is cooled to form a mixture of rose oil and water. This mixture is then separated by an oil - water separator to obtain rose oil and saturated distilled water.

Cohobation: The saturated distilled water is fed into a cohobation column and heated by the steam rising from the distillation kettle for re - distillation. It then returns to the oil - water separator through the condenser. This process is repeated to ensure the complete recovery of rose oil.

Advantages

High - quality product: This method can extract high - quality and pure rose oil, retaining the natural fragrance and skin - care components of roses, with stable quality and lasting fragrance.

Environment - friendly and safe: It does not require the use of harmful solvents or chemicals, making it a natural and environmentally - friendly extraction method that is safe for human health and the environment.

Simple operation: The equipment is relatively simple, and the operation is easy to master. Semi - skilled workers can operate the direct - fired distillation unit, which is suitable for small - and medium - scale production.

High oil recovery: Through the cohobation process, the oil recovery rate can be effectively improved. For example, the oil recovery rate of the boiler - operated distillation unit can reach 0.025% - 0.03%.