Production technology improvement of essential oils from juniper fruit

The purpose of the study is to improve the technology for the production of essential oil from juniper fruits using new technological equipment with a screw working body for steam distillation. Objectives: to obtain additional experimental data on the volume of essential oil output during the time period of exposure to hot steam on raw and dried fruits of common juniper. The objects of study are fresh and dry fruits of common juniper. The paper presents a technology for the production of essential oils from juniper fruits using an installation developed at the level of the invention. The use of this installation gives a technical effect, which consists in increasing the yield of essential oil by improving the quality of processing of essential oil raw materials and increasing productivity due to the mechanization of the process of "loading and unloading" of plant materials. Experimental work was carried out on fresh fruits of common juniper, cake obtained after squeezing the juice, dried fruits with a moisture content of 18-20 %, dried fruits crushed to 0.2 mm and with a moisture content of 16-18 %. The research results showed that the highest yield was obtained from fresh fruits (taken as 100 % (14.697 g)), the yield of essential oil from fruit cake after pressing and obtaining juice was 95.99 %, the yield of essential oil from dried fruits was 96.96 % and the yield of essential oil from dried fruits, crushed to 0.2 mm, was 98.92 %. It has been established that the experimental production of essential oil from the fruits of common juniper is 14-20 % higher compared to the given output according to the literature data, which indicates the efficiency of the use of new equipment.