A cross talk based critical analysis of solvent free microwave extraction to accentuate it as the new normal for extraction of essential oil: an attempt to overhaul the science of distillation through a comprehensive tutelage.

Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) is a sustainable non-contact heating source and has been extensively researched for extraction of plant bioactives. There are various derivatives or modules available for MAE and solvent free microwave extraction (SFME) is one of them where by operational aspects of MAE have been maneuvered to make it compatible for extraction of essential oil (EO). This article makes an attempt to overhaul the science of distillation by revisiting SFME and trying to learn through a comprehensive tutelage comprising of 20 years of published literature in Web of Science so that a shrewd decision can be obtained through a cross talk based critical analysis on the science SFME.