TY - JOUR AU - BOUAZZA, Fatma AU - GHERDAOUI, Dehbiya AU - BEN MIRI, Yamina AU - BERKA-ZOUGALI, Baya AU - HASSANI, Aicha PY - 2022/11/28 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Parametric and kinetic modeling, chemical composition, and comparative analyses of Algerian Mentha pulegium L. essential oil extracted from flowers and leaves by hydrodistillation JF - Notulae Scientia Biologicae JA - Not Sci Biol VL - 14 IS - 4 SE - Research articles DO - 10.55779/nsb14411292 UR - https://www.notulaebiologicae.ro/index.php/nsb/article/view/11292 SP - 11292 AB - <p><em>Mentha pulegium</em> L. is a plant with numerous health benefits that is utilized in traditional Algerian medicine. The objective of the current study was to analyze the chemical compositions of the essential oils produced by the <em>M. pulegium</em> flower and leaf parts after identifying the best hydrodistillation operating parameters and modeling the kinetic extraction. According to parametric tests, first order extraction kinetics result in yields of 1.7±0.06% (w/w) for leaves through 60 minutes and 4.00±0.10% (w/w) for flowers through 30 minutes. Five compounds were found in flowers, whereas 16 compounds were found in leaves. For leaves, a total of 15 constituents accounting for 100% of the oil were found; for flowers, a total of 5 constituents accounting for 100% of the oil were found. Predominance of oxygenated monoterpenes, such as pulegone (53.09%), menthol (12.53%), and neoisopulegol (5.7%) was determined in leaves, respectively pulegone (83.40%), isopulegylacetate (7.98%), and menthol (3.63%) in flowers. The results indicate that the experimental conditions used provided good yields in the extraction of essential oils, particularly from mint blossoms via hydrodistillation. As a result, there are options for lowering the time and energy required for mint oil extraction while still producing a high-quality product.</p> ER -