The invention discloses a method for extracting citrus pericarp
essential oil, which comprises the following steps: selecting fresh citrus pericarps, removing the white pericarp layer until the pericarp thickness is 0.1-0.2cm,
mincing, repeatedly freezing and thawing for 2-5 times, preparing a compound
enzyme from
pectinase and
cellulose at a
mass ratio of (1-6):1, preparing an
enzyme solution, mixing the pretreated citrus pericarp particles with the compound
enzyme solution, and performing enzymolysis in a dark place for 5-30min; and performing condensation and
reflux extraction of the hydrolyzed citrus pericarps with n-
hexane, and removing n-
hexane to obtain
essential oil. The method disclosed by the invention adopts a physical process of repeated freezing and thawing to conduct initialbreak of
cell walls of citrus pericarps, and then performs enzymolysis of the citrus pericarps with the compound enzyme, so as to greatly increase the extraction rate of citrus pericarp
essential oil. The method also has the following advantages: the extraction process is simple, the natural fragrance is less damaged, and the use value of the citrus
processing byproduct - citrus pericarps - can be utilized to a maximum extent. The essential oil extracted using the method disclosed by the invention has pure texture and has the natural fragrance of citrus fruits.