2022 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 1-8
In this research, prototype equipment for steam distillation was developed that can be easily fabricated and used to extract essential oils, and its performance was evaluated. Three types of rarely analyzed plants (Lindera lancea, Lindera praecox, and Orixa japonica) were selected from trees in the border zone between the foothills and flatlands near Tamba City in Hyogo Prefecture. Using the prototype equipment, essential oils were extracted and their components analyzed (using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis). As a result, as compared with commercially available products, the steam distillation equipment was manufactured at a lower cost (～60,000 yen) and in a shorter time (～3 h). The equipment weighs ～13.5 kg, can distill up to 1.5 kg of plant material and 1.5 L of water, and is portable enough to be used indoors or outdoors. The three essential oils obtained included 35 types confirmed for L. lancea, 40 types for L. praecox, and 39 types for O. japonica. The main constituents of the essential oils were linalool (41.26%) in L. lancea, camphor (22.60%) in L. praecox, and α-pinene (23.81%) in O. japonica. Their composition, for which there are few recent analytical results, was revealed in this study. These results heighten the potential for olfactory education using Japanese essential oils derived from local resources at various locations, such as educational settings and foothill–flatland border zones.
