We investigated the hydrodistillation (HD) and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) methods for the extraction of essential oils with antibacterial actions from lavender for use in aromatherapy and cosmetics. Extracts were analyzed by flame ionization detector-gas chromatography and mass spectrometer-gas chromatography. The HD method extracted 66 compounds, while SFE extracted 46. The principal components of the oils extracted by HD were linalyl acetate (25.3%), terpinen-4-ol (16.4%), and

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... ol (13.0%). The principal components extracted by SFE were linalyl acetate (30.6%), terpinen-4-ol (14.1%), and lavandulyl acetate (8.4%). The extraction rate of essential oil for the SFE method was at least 10 times that for the HD method. We also clarified that SFE is suitable for obtaining compounds that are unstable at relatively high temperatures and that HD is suitable for compounds with high volatility.