Comparative study of essential oil extracted from the fresh leaves of Malaysian Melaleuca leucadendron Linn. using hydrodistillation and steam distillation methods

Background and Objective: Essential oils, also known as etheric or volatile oils, are aromatic compounds extracted from plant parts like leaves, flowers, seeds and roots. These complex mixtures are primarily obtained through various distillation methods, including water, steam, or dry distillation. This study aimed to compare the content of essential oil yield and composition of fresh leaves of Melaleuca leucadendron from Malaysia. Materials and Methods: Fresh leaf samples were subjected to two different methods of extraction, which were hydrodistillation and steam distillation. The collected essential oils (EOs) were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Collected data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical package software version 17.0. (Chicago, USA). A t-test at p<0.05 was used to determine the significance of variation between the two methods of distillation. Results: The oil yield was 0.278% for hydrodistillation and 0.378% for steam distillation, with no significant statistical difference. Steam distillation yielded 29 components, while hydrodistillation yielded 28, sharing 16 components (36.4% similarity). Terpinolene (27.79%) was predominant in hydrodistillation, whereas O-Cymene (41.5%) was the major component in steam distillation, highlighting Melaleuca leucadendron Linn. as a rich source of O-Cymene. Conclusion: Detection of these compounds has revealed that they can be used in the production of pesticides, which is crucial for sustainable agriculture and reducing environmental pollution caused by chemical pesticides.

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