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Ger 004

Geranium is harvested about 4 months after transplanting, when the leaves start to turn light green and emit a rose odor rather than lemon. The optimal time for harvesting requires careful observation. Terminal branches with 10-12 leaves yield the most oil when harvested with a sharp sickle in the morning. Three harvests per year can be obtained if the crop is maintained properly. The yield is about 0.08% oil on average but can reach 0.1% occasionally, totaling around 24 kg of oil per hectare per year. The key constituents in geranium oil are geraniol and citronellol.

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57 views

Ger 004

Geranium is harvested about 4 months after transplanting, when the leaves start to turn light green and emit a rose odor rather than lemon. The optimal time for harvesting requires careful observation. Terminal branches with 10-12 leaves yield the most oil when harvested with a sharp sickle in the morning. Three harvests per year can be obtained if the crop is maintained properly. The yield is about 0.08% oil on average but can reach 0.1% occasionally, totaling around 24 kg of oil per hectare per year. The key constituents in geranium oil are geraniol and citronellol.

Uploaded by

priyasingh1682
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Geranium

Harvesting
Geranium is harvested about 4 months after transplanting, when there is sparse flowering, leaves start
turning light green and exhibit a change from lemon-like odour to that of rose. Though the change in
colour and odour is the criterion for harvesting, it requires careful observations and experience to
decide the stage of harvesting.
Leaf blades have maximum oil followed by petioles and woody parts have negligible oil. Terminal
branches with 10-12 leaves are best for oil extraction. They are harvested with a sharp sickle and taken
up for distillation immediately. The use of sharp sickle is important since it minimises damage to the
crop while harvesting. Harvesting is done manually in sunny weather in the morning hours. The crop
after harvesting is maintained by hoeing, fertilizer application and irrigation as per schedule. This helps
to put forth fresh shoots and reaches harvesting stage in four months. Thus, a total of three harvests a
year may be obtained. The crop is a perennial but it is advisable to replant after two years since the wilt
disease may dominate and kill many plants making it uneconomical to maintain.
Yield
The quality and yield of oil will be better if the crop is harvested at appropriate maturity. In large-scale
distillation, the yield of oil is 0.08%. Occasionally, a yield of 0.1% may be obtained.
The yield of fresh herbage per hectare per year from all the three harvests is about 30 tonnes, which on
distillation yields about 24 kg of oil. In Bangalore plains, however, yields are around 40 tonnes of
herbage/ha/year from which 40 kg oil is produced. The quality of essential oil produced in the plains is
quite high.
Oil Contents
The oil of geranium is a clear liquid with light-yellow to light-brown or green colour. It has a strong,
heavy rose-like odour with a minty top note. The chief constituents of the oil of geranium are geraniol
and 1- citronellol, the quantities of which vary in proportion, depending upon the origin. Esters of these
alcohols as acetates, formates and tiglates are also present. Other important constituents of
geranium oil are isomenthone, linalool, -turpineol, phenyl ethyl alcohol, 3-hexene-1-ol and rose oxides
(traces).

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