natureherbs
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Economic part - Roots
Major constituents - Vetiverone, Vetiverols, Vetivernate
Uses - Perfumery, cosmetics
Varieties
There, are basically two main types, viz. (1) Seedling type and (2) Non seedling type
The one that grows wild in North India is mainly the seedling type while that of the South is the non-seedling type. Hybrid 8, sugandha, ODV-3 are the superior strains for cultivation
[video=youtube_share;wqnyCA0kzIM]http://youtu.be/wqnyCA0kzIM[/video]
Climate and Soil
Well drained, sandy loam and red laterite soils of pH 6-8 are considered ideal as the roots produced in such soils are thick and contain more essential oil.
The crop grows luxuriantly with a rainfall of 100-200 cm and a temperature of 30-40oc.
Planting
There are three different systems of planting adopted by different growers.
1) System 1: Conical ridges, 30-38 cm high and 48 cm apart are made at the summit and the slips planted 23 cm apart on the summit.
2) System 2: The land is laid out into beds of 30 cm high, 68 cm wide and 45 cms apart edge to edge and the slips are planted on these in two rows 22.5 cm apart, leaving 22.5 cm on either sides.
3) System 3: The beds are made 45 cm high, 60 cm wide and 30 cm apart edge to edge and two rows, 30 cm apart, are planted on these leaving 15 cm on either side. The spacing within the row is also 30 cm in this system.
Yield of roots
The age, the soil, climatic conditions and also the strain are important factors governing the yield of roots. On an average, 30-45 q/ha of dry root is obtained under good management. At 0.4% average recovery the oil yield of 12-20 kg oil/ha may be obtained.
Distillation
The essential oil is extracted from the roots by steam distillation. Freshly harvested roots on distillation give higher yield of oil than stored roots; the yield decreases progressively with the period of storage.
The roots are soaked for 18-20 hours in water prior to distillation to render the root material soft and thereby further facilitate release of oil. Fresh roots when cut to lengths 2.5 cm -- 5 cm increases recovery. As the most valuable quality constituents are contained in the high boiling fractions, the roots must be distilled for a prolonged period ranging from 20-24 hours. North Indian varieties yield 0.4 to 0.8 of oil.
During distillation two fractions-lighter and heavier oils are obtained. In the start highly volatile lighter fraction released first and a considerable amount of which may escape before it gets cooled and collected in liquid phase. To avoid this loss a piece of markin cloth after cleaning is tied at delivery outlet in the swollen balloon shape in the receiver keeping it submerged in water. The lighter fraction that is likely to escape along with the steam/gas or running distillate water would be trapped in the cloth. As the distillation progress the heavier fraction will get deposited in the cloth and the lighter will pass through cloth and get collected in the receiver.
At the end of the distillation the cloth is squeezed to get the oil. This piece of cloth is repeatedly used till tear off. Before thrown off, the cloth may be washed by diethyl ether (solvent) to get back the adhering oil. This practice helps in increased recovery of oil.
Traditionally copper vessel with S.S condenser is found good for vetiver since the oil react with free copper turns bluish in colour which fetches more price in perfumery market. The traditionally distilled oil which often called "Ruhe khus" in "Deg Vopka" although recovery is comparatively low fetches the highest price in perfumery market.