The Effect of Ultrasound-Assisted Maceration on the Bioactivity, Chemical Composition and Yield of Essential Oil from Waste Carrot Seeds (Daucus carota)

The effect of ultrasound-assisted maceration on the bioactivity, quality and yield of essential oil from waste carrot seeds (Daucus carota) was investigated. The Taguchi method was applied to determine the levels of input factors ensuring the greatest efficiency of hydrodistillation [sonication time 20.0 min; impulse time 50.0 s; pause time 5.0 s; sonication temperature 20.0 degrees C]. Under these conditions, essential oil yield increased by approx. 33 %. The main constituent compounds of the oil are: carotol (OeA: 34.84 % - OeB: 35.71%), sabinene (OeA: 10.16% - OeB: 9.84%), alpha-pinene (OeA: 8.02 % - OeB: 7.79 %) and daucol (OeA: 3.73 % - OeB: 4.51 %). As compared to the control sample, the essential oil obtained from ultrasound-pretreated carrot seeds has the same biological activity against B. subtilis, S. aureus, E. coli, A. niger and P. expansum, and lower activity against Ps. aeruginosa and Candida sp.