NRDC Technology offer-ESSENTIAL OILS

Essential Oils
Rose damascena	Rose oil
Mentha arvensis	Mint oil
Cymbopogon winterianus jowitt grass	Citronella oil
Cymbopogon flexuosus (steud) wats	Lemon grass oil
Cymbopogon Martinil, Var Motia	Palmarosa oil
Pelargonium SP	Geranium oil
Vetiveria Zizanioides	Vetiver oil
Pinus longifolia (chirpine)	Turpentine oil
Cedrus deodara	Cedar Wood oil
Camphor leaves and wood	Camphor oil
Anethum sowa	.Dill Seed oil
Trachyspermum ammi	Ajowan oil
Apium graveolens	Celery seed oil
Santalum album	sandal wood oil
Cyperus Scariousus tubers	Nagarmotha oil

Essential oils are odoriferous bodies of an oily nature obtained from herbal sources generally liquid (sometimes semi-solid or solid) at ordinary temperatures and volatile without decomposition. These are the constituents of plants generally volatile in steam. They are used in cosmetics, toiletries, tooth-paste, food products like confectionery, chocolate, ice cream and pharmaceuticals. Many of the developing countries have vast potential in cultivating the herbs due to their climate, rainfall and geographical conditions.

Demand is generated from home market as well as export market. The source of demand is from end use industries which are primarily personal care products, food products, pharmaceuticals. The demand for essential oil by fragrance industry is 60%, flavour industry 20% and pharmaceutical industry 20% .

There is good demand from USA, UK, France, Germany and also far eastern countries like Japan, Singapore and Hongkong. The estimated demand for essential oils for the year 1996- 97 is 14,900 tonnes. The growth rates normally are of 9% and 25% for domestic and export market respectively. The demand supply gap is about 8000 tonnes.

Most important oils that have a good demand presently are: Lemon Grass oil, Rose Oil, Ginger Oil, Clove Oil, Citronella Oil, Geranium Oil, Palmarosa Oil, Eucalyptus Oil, Mint Oil, Vetiver Oil, Jasmine Oil, Lavender oil, cinamon oil, etc.

The cultivation of herbs depends upon the soil, rainfall, climate, irrigation and geographical conditions. The cost of cultivating herbs in the developing countries is low mainly on account of low labour and land cost. The climatic conditions in most developing nations are more favourable compared to many developed nations so the production of such oils is likely to remain a monopoly of the developing nations. India has also developed good cultivation techniques through massive research work carried out in many agricultural universities, departments and CSIR Laboratories. The Essential oil industry is thus very well grown in India and a considerable amount of foreign exchange is generated by export. The cost in extracting oil from the herb is considerably low and it thus provides a very good opportunity for cottage and small scale industry. The entire city Kannauj in India , in fact, makes living only on this industry

The extraction of the oil from the herb or the flower was conventionally done by Water or Steam Distillation. Solvent Extraction was later introduced that increased the yield and produced better quality of the essential oil but this technique was a little expensive in recovery of solvent and sometimes had limitations on account of traces of solvent remaining in the final product. Recently used Super Critical Extraction of Essential Oil by use of Carbon Dioxide as the solvent has greatly improved the quality and yield of the final product. The extra cost incurred in plant and machinery is sometimes more than recovered in extra production and high prices available in a few of the oils. Any entrepreneur interested in entering this industry can draw a big benefit by a careful planning and selection of the herb for cultivation that will depend on the kind of soil, rainfall and climate of the proposed location. The process of extraction will depend on the kind of herb and the capacity of the proposed project.

The economics of essential oil production depend on both the cultivation of the herbs and extraction of oils from the herbs. However, major emphasis is often given to the cultivation , since the crop yield and yield of the essential oil depends on the quality of cultivation. The cost of cultivation of herbs in the developing countries per hectare is estimated at US $ 500 to 1000. This cost mainly comprises labour cost and as such this industry is uniquely suitable only for developing nations. The revenue from essential oils after the extraction per hectare is estimated to be around US $ 3000 to US $ 6000.

NRDC is in a very good position to help any entrepreneur in the field of Essential Oil due to the availability of technologies and close liaison with many Agricultural Universities and CSIR Laboratories. NRDC can carry out a preliminary and later if required a Detailed Project Report for an Entrepreneur and supply complete information alongwith Optimisation for any location in any country/State of interest to the entrepreneur.

National Research Development Corporation, a Government of India Enterprise, is a premier technology transfer Corporation with four decades of experience. It has helped establish over one thousand projects in the small and medium scale sector.

The supply of technologies and services to entrepreneurs extend both in the developing and developed countries like USA, Germany, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal, Senegal, Madagascar, Indonesia Philippines, Vietnam, Lanka, Kenya, Brazil, Bangladesh and Egypt.