Microwave-assisted extraction will probably be the main technique in the near future for industrial essential oil production. Two kinds of new methods for essential oil extracting were used in this paper: microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SC-CO2). The steam extraction system was designed by ourselves, according to Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The device has a double advantage of the fast with microwave assisted extraction and of high purification with the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The optimum extraction conditions for SC-CO2 were obtained by parallel and uniform design experiments, and searched for the method of purifying product by reduced pressure distillation. The compare of the volatile oils from Lavender from the two extractions was made
via gas chromatography. The optimum conditions of Lavender essential oil extracted by supercritical CO2 extraction
process: extraction pressure 22 MPa, extraction temperature 45