Abstract



Citrus oil is an essential oil present within the rind of wall of a citrus fruit. In contrast to most essential oils, it is extracted as a by product of juice extraction by centrifugation, producing cold pressed oil. It is found in all citrus fruits like lemon, orange, sweat lime etc. In the present investigation lemon (Citrus Limon) peels is used for the extraction of citrus oil. India, along with Mexico, Argentina and Brazil accounts for almost half the lemon production in the world. As Lemon is one of the most common fruits with a lot of Vitamin-C nutritional value, its juice is most consumed after mixing with water for its dietary benefits during summer. After extraction of juice, the lemon peels are treated as waste and lead to environmental pollution due to improper disposal which can be used for the extraction of citrus oil. This paper focuses on improved steam distillation, where the lemon peels are preheated before subjecting to distillation. The citrus oil composed of around 94.5% D- limonene which has many applications ranging from food flavouring agents to cosmetics.