Three models were used to describe the extraction of essential oils from oregano bracts using compressed carbon dioxide. They were developed on the basis of a plate-like geometry of the particles and were tested experimentally using various bract pre-treatments, pressures, temperatures and solvent flow rates. The two particle phase derived models applied, the Single Plate model (SP model) and the Simple Single Plate model (SSP model), differ only by the allowance or not for a film coefficient (k(f)) and have as the only adjustable parameter the matrix diffusivity (D-m). The third model, the Fluid Phase/Simple Single Plate model (FP/SSP model), considers both the particle mass balance and a detailed description of the fluid mass balance. In addition to the matrix diffusivity the FP/SSP model may require the adjustment of the fraction of oil leached by the solvent during the pressurisation procedure (f(0)). All models gave a good fit to the experimental data though the FP/SSP model gave the best fit. However, the matrix diffusivities found correlated very poorly with the estimated diffusivity of essential oils in carbon dioxide (D-12), which indicates a complex intraparticle transport. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.