Microwave Hydrodiffusion and Gravity (MHG) System

The NEOS-GR is based on the MHG technology (Microwave Hydrodiffusion and Gravity) a new and green technique for the extraction of essential oils from different kinds of aromatic plants.

This green extraction is an original “upside down” microwave alembic combining microwave heating and earth gravity at atmospheric pressure. Based on a relatively simple principle, this method involved placing plant material in a microwave reactor, without adding any solvent or water.*

It is important to note that this green method allows to extract essential oils without distillation and evaporation which are the most energy consuming between the unit operations. The distillation step which can represent up to 80% of the total analytical procedure is no longer required. Whereas traditional processes are carried out within 3 hours, solvent-free microwaves hydrodiffusion plus gravity requires no more than 30 minutes!
Once the essential oils have been extracted they can be analyzed directly by GC-MS without any preliminary clean-up or solvent exchange steps.

The NEOS-GR is the result of a partnership between Milestone and the Université d’Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, France, which lead to the grant of the European patent EP 1 955 749.