How Many Methods Are There for Extracting Peppermint Essential Oil? This Article Explains It All

Peppermint essential oil is a component extracted from peppermint (Mentha) through water distillation or subcritical low-temperature extraction . Peppermint has a fresh, cool taste and lifts the spirits. Main benefits: it is very effective at soothing the throat and relieving throat discomfort and eliminating bad breath, and it has a unique calming effect on body and mind. It is one of the ten essential oils that beginners and those new to essential oils must have.

Peppermint essential oil extraction methods
1. Distillation method
Distillation is the most commonly used method for extracting peppermint essential oil . Put the peppermint plant into a container and heat it from below to produce steam, allowing the plant's essential oil to be released along with the steam. The steam containing the essential oil is collected through a conduit and cooled, then the steam condenses into liquid, and the essential oil is separated out according to the differences in specific gravity and density between water and essential oil. The remaining water is hydrosol. Most essential oils are extracted by this method. 
2. Cold pressing extraction method
Because plants that contain essential oils mostly contain them in their plant juices, the extraction method involves adding water during the process of crushing the plant, collecting the fruit liquid, and then separating out the essential oil with a centrifuge.
3. Fat separation method
Fats and oils can absorb and retain the aromatic oils contained in peppermint and other plants. The fats and oils absorb the better-smelling parts of the plant's aroma, then are treated with alcohol and stirred by machine. After the alcohol evaporates, what remains is aromatic peppermint essential oil.
4. Solvent extraction method
The solvent usually used to process plants as much as possible is petroleum or petroleum ether, while the solvent used for gums and resins is acetone. Using alcohol, ether, or liquid butane solvents, repeatedly pour them over the peppermint or plant to be extracted, then separate and analyze the solvent containing the essential oil, and distill at low temperature to obtain peppermint or other plant essential oils.
5. Maceration method
Soak peppermint or other plants in hot oil to release the plant's essential oil, then extract by filtration to obtain pure essential oil.