Using soft computing approaches for orange (Citrus nobilis Lour. var. nobilis) oils extraction process

Orange oil with many applications in food and beautify people. In this sense, traditional methods of extracting essential oils have been less effective and gradually replaced by more optimal methods. The combination of microwave assisted hydro-distillation and treated with response surface methodology are considered as a new and modern method for extracting oranges and optimizing the factors that influence the extraction process. The results showed that influencing factors such as the ratio of water to the raw materials were 3.2: 1 (mL/g), the microwave power used at 465 (W) for the extraction time was 96.63 (min) for the essential oil yield of 4.0 (%) with 99.5 % reliability. (paper)