Aromatic Plants

Book excerpt: This book on 'Aromatic Plants' contains seven s. Introductory on 'History, importance and scope of aromatic plants' deals with the importance of aromatic crops and their close association with human health and beauty care from time immemorial. History of development of cultivation and aroma based industries in different regions of the world is described to emphasize their significance, scope and role in increasing the quality of human life. Classification of aromatic plants based on their climatic requirement, growth habit and floral morphology elaborated in succeeding will be of great interest to students, researchers and farmers. on 'Extraction of aroma principles' describes traditional as well as modern techniques employed for efficient extraction of volatile oils and oleo-resins from different plants materials and equipments employed for the purpose. Quality of oil is found to vary significantly with ecotypes, season, time of collection, crop maturity and weather conditions prevailing during the growth period, extraction method and duration of extraction process. Conditions and duration of storage also have a bearing on quality of essential oil. This necessitates development and imposition of appropriate quality standards in trade. These aspects are covered in fourth on 'Quality assurance of essential oils'. Aromatic oils & their derivatives and combinations occupy a covetable position in holistic medicines such as aromatherapy. on 'Aromatherapy' details the use of essential oils in human health care, techniques employed, aromatherapy message, aromatic bath, facial care, hair care etc. Information on aromatic oil's vide spread application to relieve stress and rejuvenate body are also included. Sixth and seventh s deal with major and other sources of aromatic oils. Under major sources, 17 aromatic crops and under other sources, 25 crops and discussed in detail. These s include the common name, botanical name and synonyms if any and family, vernacular names, importance and uses, habitat and distribution, agro technology, soil, climate, season, land preparation, planting, seed rate and spacing manurial and fertilizer recommendation, irrigation, weed control, pest control, harvest, propagation techniques, herbal yield, extraction and utilization, oil recovery, oil composition, properties of oil, storage requirements etc.