o:8230 Kinetics of the essential oil hydrodistillation from sweet flag (Acorus calamus) rhizomes: comparison of basic models en Background: This study investigated the hydrodistillation process for extracting essential oil from sweet flag (Acorus calamus) rhizomes. The primary objectives were to evaluate the influence of the water-to-rhizome ratio on both the yield and chemical composition of the essential oil and to model the extraction kinetics. Results: The water-to-rhizome ratio was found to significantly influence the yield of essential oil, with the highest yield (1.36 ±0.01%) obtained at a ratio of 11:1. However, variations in this ratio did not result in significant changes in the chemical composition of the oil. A first-order kinetic model was identified as the most suitable for describing the hydrodistillation process, offering simplicity and strong agreement with experimental data. Conclusion: The kinetic profile revealed a rapid initial increase in yield, corresponding to the washing phase — where readily accessible oil on the surface is removed—followed by a slower ‘diffusion’ phase, during which the essential oil gradually diffuses from the rhizome matrix into the distillate. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI). essential oil; extraction; hydrodistillation; sweet flag; kinetics; modeling 1552099 10.1002/jctb.70076 2025-09-24T12:30:43.986Z 44 no 46 Miljojka Mijailović Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department of Technological Engineering, University of Priština in Kosovska Mitrovica 46 Vanja Tadić Institute for Medicinal Plants Research "Dr Josif Pančić" Belgrade 0000-0003-1761-604X 46 Ivan Krstić Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Kragujevac 46 Jelena Avramović Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department of Technological Engineering, University of Priština in Kosovska Mitrovi 46 Ana Veličković Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department of Technological Engineering, University of Priština in Kosovska Mitrovi 46 Anđela Zahitović Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department of Technological Engineering, University of Priština in Kosovska Mitrovi 46 Vlada Veljković Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, SASA Branch in Niš, Belgrade 46 Miljana Krstić Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department of Technological Engineering, University of Priština in Kosovska Mitrovica application/pdf 1021974 https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:8230 no yes 1 70 1552253 71A10 J Chem Technol Biotechnol 2025 1 10 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) 2025