The fragrance of flowers is due to the presence of some steam volatile organic compounds called essential oils. These are generally insoluble in water at room temperature but are miscible with water vapour in the vapour phase. A suitable method for the extraction of these oils from the flowers is:

Step-by-step solution

Steam distillation technique is applied to separate substances which are steam volatile and are immiscible with water. As the organic compounds steam volatile and are miscible with water vapour in the vapour phase, steam distillation will be the most suitable method for extraction of oils from flowers. Steam distillation is carried out by passing dry steam through the plant material whereby the steam volatile compounds are volatilised, condensed and collected in receivers. The most common use of steam distillation