EXTRACTION - A BRIEF-HISTORY

The extraction of plants with the aid of water is one of the oldest te chniques known to humankind for obtaining aromatic principles and medi caments from these sources. Extraction vessels excavated in Mesopotami a can be dated back to around 3500 BC, and Sumerian clay tablets descr ibing the preparation of medicaments which were found in the same regi on date from around 2100 BC. The Greek and Roman civilisations of anti quity inherited extraction together with other skills from their prede cessors, and this knowledge was passed on to Christendom by Arabian sc holars. Europe of the Middle Ages saw the development of pharmacy, med icine, and mining, as well as the sugar industry, all of which made ac tive use of extraction with a wide range of solvents. Whereas technolo gical applications of extraction were thus steadily increasing prior t o the industrial revolution, the equipment used underwent hardly any c hanges up the end of the 18(th) century. It was only in the 19(th) cen tury that active development of equipment, materials, and modes of ope ration started, while successful combination of theory and practice an d treatment of extraction by the methods of engineering science had to wait until the 20(th) century. This article reports about equipment, solvents, and extraction processes up to the beginning of the present century, and places then in a political and sociological context.