Supplement to Cultivation and Utilisation of Aromatic Plants

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The book entitled' 'Cultivation and Utilization of Aromatic Plants" published as early as 1982 continues to serve as a reference book.

Of late there has been a spurt in the production of essential oils as at present 30 per cent of fine chemicals used in perfumes come from essential oils. In India the estimated production of perfumery raw material is around 5000 tonnes per annum valued at Rs 400 crores. According to recent estimates the 90 per cent of present requirement of essential oils in this country is met by the indigenous production and 10 per cent from imports.

This book entitled "Supplement to Cultivation and Utilization of Aromatic Plants" is aimed at providing multidisciplinary compendium of information on botany, agronomy, chemistry, trade trends and technological aspects of aromatic plants. Forty-three contributions on different aspects of aromatic plants written by different experts in the field pro- vide a bird's eye view of all the details from the field to the factory.

It is hoped that book will cater to the needs of not only professional scientists and technologists, but also to farmers, traders, importers and experts of aromatic plants.

Perfumes, one time products for the elite, are presently finding expanding uses in a host of daily use consumer items such as cosmetics, soaps, drugs and pharmaceuticals, food, etc. And perfumes are among the very few consumer commodities that bear a direct and mute link between the grassroot villages with high class societies. Perfumery materials of natural origin are still widely used raw materials for the manufacture of perfumes. India has been a traditional supplier of natural perfumery materials. It has been exporting essential oils of sandalwood, palmarosa, jasmine, lemongrass, etc. on a monopoly basis to all parts of the world. Presently, more than 100 essential oils, in addition to turpentine oil, are used in the perfumery, cosmetic and flavour industries with annual turnover exceeding $ 6 billion. Not- withstanding the perfect imitations produced by chemical synthesis, natural raw materials will continue to enjoy the preference for perfumery industry. Today, more than ever before, the emphasis is shifting in favour of natural raw materials, primarily because they are safe, non- toxic and their resource is renewable.

We have many R&D centres in the country devoted to the development of the essential oil industry. The Regional Research Laboratory (RRL), Jammu is, however, the pioneer institute actively engaged in the area of R&D of aromatic and medicinal plants for over four decades. The laboratory has been publishing periodically important referral books for benefit of the scientific and industrial community. The present volume is a useful supplement to the earlier reference book - Cultivation and Utilization of Aromatic Plants, published by RRL, Jammu in 1982. This book is the first of its kind which gives comprehensive information on all aspects of botany, agronomy, chemistry and agrotechnology of medicinal and aromatic plants, essential for researchers and technologists working in the area. The book covers multitudinous aspects of essential oils, oleoresins, spices, resinoids and their utilization in perfumery industry. Further, with the advent of sophisticated analytical techniques and modern technologies, the perfumery industry is growing rapidly. Reference books such as this are very necessary to direct research in its right perspective

I congratulate the editors for this thoughtful work in the interest of R&D in essential oils. I am sure the book will command a very wide readership and usage.

In 1982, Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu released two companion volumes namely - Cultivation and Utilization of Medicinal Plants and Cultivation and Utilization of Aromatic Plants with the aim of revising and enlarging the original combined book entitled "Cultivation and Utilization of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants" published in 1977. These compendia have served as reference books wherein information on botany, agronomy, chemistry and technology of medicinal and aromatic plants is put together by different specialists. Due to increased demand and significance of the subject matter, these books were reprinted in 1989.

To draw a consolidated thumb-nail sketch of scattered information on all aspects ranging from field to factory pertaining to medicinal and aromatic plants, a need was felt to publish the supplementary volumes to both the books. The supplements include research papers on important crops not covered earlier, besides revising and updating articles published in the original volumes. An honest attempt was made to contact the contributors of the original volumes for revising and updating their research articles. New contributions on topics of current interest were received from different specialists for inclusion in the present books. The format followed in arranging these articles in these supplementary volumes is more or less similar to that of the original books which was found to be suitable.

Perfume is as old as civilisation in itself. Aroma has played a vital role, directly as well as indirectly, in the life of Man since its appearance on earth as a result of evolution. India, Egypt and Persia were amongst the first countries to have conceived the process of distillation for obtaining essential oils. Rose flowers were distilled in India more than 1000 years B.C. and during Moghul period oriental types of perfumes like' Attars' were developed and exported to other countries. As a traditional producer of essential oils such as Sandalwood, Palmarosa and Lemon- grass, India has been widely exporting these oils on a monopoly basis to all parts of the world.

Of late there has been a spurt in the production of essential oils and at present 30 percent of fine chemicals used in perfumes and flavours comes from essential oils. In India the estimated production of perfumery raw material is around 5000 tonnes per annum valued at Rs. 400crores and the total consumption of perfumery and flavouring material is about 3800 tonnes valued at Rs. l00 crores. India ranks 26th in imports and l4th in respect of exports in the world trade of essential oils.

It is estimated that annual turnover of perfumery, cosmetic and flavour industry exceeds $ 6 billion in the world. There are about 300 blenders in India. They buy natural essential oils from distillers and prepare industrial perfumes and aromatic chemicals by either mixing one variety with the other or blending the essential oils with fine chemicals. According to an estimate 90 percent of the present requirement of essential oils in the country is met by the indigenous production and 10 percent from imports. Peppermint, spearmint and other mint oils constitute 68 percent of the total volume of the production of essential oils in the country. Other important varieties which-constitute 28% of the total production are: Basil oil, Citronella, Eucalyptus, Lemongrass, PaImarosa, Sandalwood and Vetiver oils. The Association of Essential oil Manufacturers in India estimated growth in export value from Rs.50 crores in 1991-92 to Rs. 125 crores in 1995-96. Many developing countries including India produce most of the spices like coriandar, cumin seed, clove, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger and essential oils/oleoresins from these are exported in crude form to the developed countries for further processing. This is high time when India should have its own technology to process essential oils and oleoresins from spices for exporting these in finished form. A large number of R&D Institutes in government as well as Private sector are presently involved in this direction. It is difficult to name all the institutes/centres working on aromatic plants. However, mention may be made of the active participation of central research organizations like Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian Council of Agriculture Research, various Agriculture Universities, and many research centres of State departments. Also some important industrial houses like Hindustan Lever Ltd., Richardson Hindustan Ltd., S.H.Kelkar and Co., Camphor Allied Products, Naarden, Bush, Brooke & Alien etc. are actively engaged in development of essential oil industry in this country.

This book on Aromatic Plants is aimed at providing a multidisciplinary compendium of information on botany, agronomy, chemistry and technological aspects like post harvest and chemical technology.

The Editors express their sincere gratitude to Dr.R.S. Kapil for initiating this work. The assistance of Mrs. Kiran Kaul (Thussu), Miss Suman Chibb and Miss Uma Jamwal and Mrs. Rekha Gupta is gratefully acknowledged. We are thankful to Dr.G.P. Phondke, Director, National Institute of Science Communication, New Delhi and his team of dedicated workers for printing and production of this work.