Extraction of essential oil from Coconut (Cocos Nucifera) :

For the extraction of coconut essential oil, the following materials and reagents were used:

Materials :
-SCRATCHER
- DISTILLATION CYLINDERS
-COCONUT
- BEAKERS COPRA
- GRADUATED CYLINDERS -DISTILLED
- SEPARATORY FUNNELS
- CONDENSER OR REFRIGERANT TUBE
- THERMOMETER

Reagents :

- HEXANE (N-HEXANE). PURITY: 99%, DENSITY: 0.66KG/L, PM= 86.18GR/MOL AND OF GERMAN ORIGIN

REGISTERED UNDER THE MERCK BRAND.

Oil extraction procedure :

For the extraction of this essential oil, two simultaneous systems were carried out, the first using a
simple distillation system with total reflux and the second macerating the coconut sample.

1.- Simple distillation system with total reflux :

For this experience, previously grated coconut copra is used for greater contact with water vapor,
placing 144.39g of copra in a 1L distillation flask with 350ml of distilled water. The distillation system is
assembled (see photo) including the trap for essential oils, the burner or heating system is turned on
and we wait for the mixture to boil and the oil to form.

After two hours we were able to observe that with this system no oil was formed in the oil trap, since it
is not the most suitable for obtaining it, so it was decided to dismantle the equipment and let the
emulsion formed in the balloon rest. .

Once the emulsion has cooled, we proceed to measure it to know how much volume we are working
with, reporting 400ml of water-coconut oil emulsion, which is treated with an organic solvent (for this
experiment hexane) to separate the organic phase from the aqueous phase; separating the 400ml of
emulsion into 100ml aliquots to be treated with 20ml of hexane each. These extractions are carried
out hot so that the oil does not solidify since at room temperature it usually solidifies, obtaining by this
method 6ml of oil for every 400ml of emulsion.
At the same time, 35.95g of grated coconut copra is macerated with 60ml of hexane in a 250ml
beaker for two hours in order to test another extraction method. What this method does is separate
the oil from the copra and by distillation the hexane is recovered and the essential oil is obtained.
Applying this method we obtained 4ml of coconut oil, recovering 24ml of the organic solvent at a
temperature of 54.8°C.

Total sample = 144.34gr + 35.95gr = 180.29gr

Total volume of distilled water used = 350ml
Total volume of hexane used = 60ml + 80ml = 140ml
Volume of hexane recovered = 83ml of the emulsion + 24ml of the maceration = 107ml
Volume of oil obtained from the emulsion by distillation = 6ml
Volume of oil obtained by maceration = 4ml
Yield 1 = 6ml / 144.34gr of copra per emulsion
Yield 2 = 4ml / 35.95gr of copra by maceration with hexane

It should be noted that at an industrial level, obtaining coconut essential oil is done by compression, a
method that will be explained in the theoretical framework...