Abstract

Dehydrating plant material ensures the conservation of active compounds in medicinal plants. Thus, the object of the present study was to evaluate the effect of three drying air speeds on the content and the chemical composition of essential oil from Aristolochia cymbifera Mart. and Zucc. The tests were conducted in a fixed-layer dryer with drying chambers measuring 0.60 x 0.60 x 0.60 m on a plate with 25% perforation. The treatments consisted of three drying air speeds (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 m·s¹), with four replicates and a mean temperature of 34.7±15°C. The experimental design was in randomized blocks. The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation. It was concluded that the drying air did not influence the essential oil content; however, there was a slight influence on the minor constituents of the essential oil extracted.

Key words: Medicinal plants, chemical composition, content of essential oil, extraction.