Author(s)

Jean Bruno Bassiloua^1,2,3*, Anicet Frédéric Binaki^1,3, Feueltgaldah Christian Bopoundza¹, Harmelle Bazolo Lemba¹, Thomas Silou^1,3

¹Multidisciplinary Food and Nutrition Research Team, Regional Center of Excellence in Food and Nutrition, Faculty of Science and Technology, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Congo.
²Non Wood Forest Products Valorization Center, CVPFNL, Pointe Noire, Congo.
³CR2IE, Chemistry and Technology Platform, Higher School of Cataract Technology (EPrES), Brazzaville, Congo.

The modelling of pilot-scale extraction of Corymbia citriodora essential oil, as a support activity for the development of the national “essential oils” programme, was carried out using steam hydrodistillation on a locally-built distiller. The diffusion and desorption models tested both fitted the experimental data. The diffusional model established that 1) 75% of the essential oil originated from the broken cells and was released during the fast wash step with an extraction rate constant k₁ = 0.0233 ± 0.0006 min⁻¹; 2) the slower diffusion step involved the remaining 25% of essential oil with a rate constant of 0.0021 ± 0.0002 min⁻¹; 3) the rate constant of the overall process is : k = 0.0305 min⁻¹, assuming first-order kinetics (t_1/2 = 22.62 min.). The Peleg desorption model leads to 1) a second-order rate constant k₁ = 13.3 ± 3.6 min%⁻¹; 2) an extraction capacity constant K₂ = 0.59%⁻¹ ± 0.20%⁻¹; and finally 3) a first-order rate constant for the overall extraction k = 0.0474 ± 0.002 min⁻¹ and a maximum average extraction yield Y_∞ = 1.8% ± 0.5% (db). Simple graphical processing with little computer data is well suited to solve this specific problem: the development of the essential oil sector on a small scale and in rural areas as a means of poverty alleviation.

Kinetic Modeling, Corymbia citriodora Extraction, Pilot Scale, Congo-Brazzaville

Bassiloua, J. , Binaki, A. , Bopoundza, F. , Lemba, H. and Silou, T. (2025) Modeling with Simple Graphic Methods of the Extraction of Corymbia citriodora Essential Oil on an Artisanal Scale in Congo-Brazzaville. Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 15, 1145-1155. doi: 10.4236/ojapps.2025.154079.