Conventional extraction of oil and azadirachtin, a botanical insecticide, from Azadirachta indica involves defatting the seeds and leaves using hexane followed by azadirachtin extraction with a polar solvent. In order to simplify the process while maintaining the yield we explored a binary extraction approach using Soxhlet extraction device and hexane and ethanol as non-polar and polar solvents at various ratios and extraction times. The highest oil and azadirachtin yields were obtained at 6 h extraction time using a 50:50 solvent mixture for both neem leaves (44.7 wt%, 720 mg(Aza)/kg(leaves)) and seeds (53.5 wt%, 1045 mg(Aza)/kg(seeds)), respectively.
Azadirachta ; Ethanol ; Limonins ; Solvents