Removal of three kinds of phthalates from sweet orange oil by molecular distillation

•The molecular distillation technology was used to get rid of phthalates from plant essential oil.•Through optimizing processing parameters, the contents of phthalates were under required.•Phthalates were efficiently removed from sweet orange oil using the developed molecular distillation.

The removal of phthalates from essential oils is necessary due to the wide use of plastic products in daily life and severe adverse effects. In this study, molecular distillation techniques were used to remove phthalates from sweet orange oil (Citrussinensis (L.) Osbeck). Three parameters were investigated to optimize this process. An evaporation temperature of 50 °C, evaporator pressure of 5 kPa and a feed flow rate of 0.75 ml/min were identified as optimal parameters for this method. After distillation, obvious decreases in bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) levels were observed. Phthalates were efficiently removed from sweet orange oil using the developed molecular distillation technique indicating that this approach is suitable for the effective removal of harmful substances from essential oils.