Chiang Mai Journal of Science

The agarwood extract was extracted from woodchips of cultivated non-inoculated agarwood trees Aquilaria crassna Pierre ex Lecomte by means of supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO₂) extraction. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the parameters of the SCO2 extraction. The yield of SCO2 extraction was chosen to be response variable, and independent variables were temperature (30, 45 and 60°C), pressure (100, 115 and 130 bar), and extraction time (1.0, 3.5 and 6.0 h). The optimal factors were observed at 37°C for extraction temperature, 107 bar for pressure and 5.7 h for extraction time and maximum extraction yield was 0.317 % (w/w). The volatile compounds of the agarwood extract were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Besides, agarwood SCO2 extract was separated repeatedly by silica gel column chromatography. Two compounds were successfully purified, and their structures were interpreted by spectroscopic methods. One of them, 4-methoxylonchocarpin has been found in the SCO2 extract of A. crassna for the first time.