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The natural volatile oil has high medicinal value, but the extraction and separation technology were limited by low composition, complex composition, and strong volatility. This study validated the feasibility of membrane separation technology for enriching volatile oil from the aspects of membrane separation efficiency, volatile oil components, and drug efficacy. A shellac coated alumina ceramic (lac@AC) membrane with irregular nanoneedle-like surface structure was prepared to enrich the volatile oil from vinegar-processed Cyperi Rhizoma (vpCR). Compared to the alumina ceramic (AC) membrane, the lac@AC membrane exhibited 29.77 % and 98.05 % increase in water and emulsion flux, respectively. Meanwhile, the oil rejection of lac@AC membrane increased 26.29 %. According to the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, the similarity between the volatile oils obtained by membrane separation and the traditional steam distillation method was higher than 99.5 %. In addition, antibacterial experiments showed that the volatile oil obtained by membrane separation has similar antibacterial effects to the volatile oil obtained by steam distillation. Component analysis and pharmacodynamic analysis both demonstrated the feasibility of using membrane separation to obtain vpCR volatile oil. This study offers a technical reference for the efficient, high-quality, and environmentally friendly extraction of natural plant oils with complex ingredients. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]