Introduction

 Common Name: Davanam

 Botanical Name: Artemisia Pallens
 Family : Asteraceae
 Origin : India
 Plant Part : Tender stems with
flower panicles
 BOTANY

 Davana is an annual, erect growing,

branched, aromatic herb, reaching a
height of 45-60 cm height.
 Leaves possess a characteristic bluish
– green colour.
 Inflorescence is sessile or peduncled,
axillary with very inconspicuous
flowers.
 SOILS
 Davanam comes up well in rich
loamy soil.

 It can be grown on sandy soils, red

and
alluvial soils, but fertile alluvial soils
are the best.
 Propagation
 Davana is propagated through seed.
 The seeds are very minute (1 gram
contains 6000 seeds).
 Seeds from current crop are selected
for sowing.
 One year-old seeds are more
preferable. But seeds older than one
year do not germinate as they have lost
their viability.
 Raising a nursery
 Raised beds of 2 meters long and 1 meter
width are prepared.
 Farm yard manure @ 10 kg per hectare is
used in 500 sq mts area of beds.
 This high seed rate is to allow losses due
to poor germination, diseases like
damping off. Ant menace and also for the
selection of healthy seedlings for
transplanting in the mainfield.
 Sowing
 Seeds being very minute, are mixed with
fine sand at 1:11 ratio and kept moistened
in a moist cloth for 48-72 hours.
 After 2-3 days, the pre-germinated seeds
are sown on the beds.
 The beds are dusted with BHC powder
against ants and termites and flooded with
water and then the seeds are sown evenly
on the wet beds.
 Contd….
 The beds are lightly covered by
sprinkling fine sand to avoid washing
off of seeds while watering.
 Beds covered by dry grass during the
day time and shade removed during
evenings.
 Seeds germinate within 3-4 days.
 Time of sowing
 For oil, the seeds are sown in the first
week of September to October and
transplanted during November to
December.
 By February to March the main crop
is harvested for oil and the ratoon
crop extends upto April to May.
 Spacing and Manuring
 Spacing : 15 X 7.5 cm.
 Manuring :
 FYM : 50-60 tonnes is incorported into the
soil along with 40 kg P2 O5 and 40 kg
Potash. Per hectare
 Nitrogen: 190 kg per hectare in 3 equal split
doses
Raw materials / processing
Essential oils occur in many
different parts of plants, e.g.
roots (vetiver), bark
(cinnamon), heartwood
(sandalwood), leaves (bay),
herb (peppermint), seeds
(nutmeg), flowers ( jasmine).
 The essential oil of a plant consists of
many compounds which generally boil
between 150° 300° C.
 If attempts are made to remove these

compounds by dry distillation many will

decompose and the oil will be ruined.
 However, the compounds are steam

volatile and can be distilled out of the

vegetal materials at around 100° C.
 When plant materials are steam
distilled chemical changes
inevitably occur and the oil
obtained will not have an
identical aroma to that of the
original plant material.
Preparation of material for distillation varies
with the material to be distilled. Some material
must be distilled immediately after harvesting,
whereas others can be (and are best) stored for a
day or two before distilling and finally there are
materials which can be stored indefinitely before
distillation.
.
 In general, flowers should be distilled
immediately, whereas herbaceous
material often benefits from wilting
for one or two days before
distillation. Woody materials may
need to be ground and/or soaked
before distillation.
 The preparation of the raw material,
the packing of the still and the
rate/type of distillation can be
determined for a particular essential
oil crop from the experimental trials
 Types of distillation
There are three basic types
of essential oil distillation:

water or "hydrodistillation"

•water and steam or "wet

steam"

steam or "dry steam"

1.Hydrodistillation"

"- in this method the charge (which is usually comminuted) is

immersed totally in water which is boiled. The stills are of the
simplest type (see Figure 1: Simple still hydrpdistillation) and
are used extensively by smallholder producers of essential oils.
Often they are heated over an open fire. The disadvantages are
that the heat is difficult to control and hence the rate of
distillation is variable. Also the possibility exists for local
overheating and "burning" of the charge which can lead to a
poorer quality oil. Improved distillation control can be obtained
by using steam from a separate boiler, which is passed into a
jacket around the still or through a closed coil in the bottom of
the still, to heat the contents of the still. A further disadvantage
of this system is that it requires the heating of a large quantity
of water adding to costs and time needed for each distillation.
However, it is necessary for certain flower distillations e.g. rose
STEAM BOILER
2.Water/steam distillation
this is an improved method, the still
contains a grid which keeps the plant
material above the water level (Fig. 2.
Water/Steam still) The water is boiled
below the charge and "wet" steam passes
through the plant material. Consequently,
if an open fire is used the plant material is
protected from direct heat. In Fig. 2 the
still is heated by a steam jacket. It is
important in both water/steam and steam
distillation that the still is packed evenly
and not too tightly so that steam can
extract from the complete charge
efficiently. Over packing of the still can
cause the steam to force "rat holes"
3.Steam Distillation -

the most advanced type of distillation is by direct steam

provided from a separate boiler. The still contains a grid
plate under which an open steam pipe is fitted (see Fig. 3.
Steam distillation unit).

The advantages of this type of "dry" steam distillation are

that it is relatively rapid, therefore charging and emptying
the still is much faster and energy consumption is lower.
The rapid distillation is also less likely to damage those
oils which contain reactive compounds, e.g. esters

As a general rule all stills should be insulated ("lagged") to

reduce heat losses. Their design and losses . Their design
and construction should also facilitate loading and
Storage and packaging

Most essential oils can be stored for

long periods under suitable
conditions: they should be dry, not in
contact with the air or direct sunlight
and kept cool.

It is important that essential oils do

not come into contact with materials
with which they might react, e.g.
rubber or plastic bungs.
STORAGE & PACKING
Glass containers are often used for
smaller amounts of oil but larger
quantities are invariably stored in metal
drums. Mild steel drums lined with epoxy
resin are very popular for essential oils. If
secondhand drums are to be used, it is
important that they are thoroughly
cleaned and dried before being filled with
essential oil. Plastic containers, e.g.
polythene, should not be used because
the oil may be absorbed by the plastic
and contamination may occur.
To ensure that the oil is not wet it
should be left to stand for some time
before being filtered into its container.
Oils generally show no cloudiness when
thoroughly dry.

Freshly distilled oils often possess

some "still odours" which are
unpleasant. These generally disappear
after several weeks storage. Some oils
gradually improve in storage and
acquire a fuller more rounded aroma,
 Distillation of
essential oils
Essential oils are aromatic
materials of vegetable
origin, which are used in
perfumery and flavourings.
They represent the
"essential aroma" of the
plant from which they are
obtained.
The majority of essential
oils are produced by the
process of steam
 Oil uses
 The leaves and flowers of the plant yield oil
called davana oil, which is used in the
manufacture of perfumes, cosmetics, food
industries, flavouring tobacco and some
beverages.
 The crop is grown for two purposes, for
making garlands and for extracting oil. The
crop can be pulled from the field during its
second or third month after planting for
making garlands.
 Harvesting
 About 5-6 tonnes of fresh herbage can be
harvested per acre, which under shade
drying, reduces to 2-3 tonnes of wilted
material. On distillation, it yields 4-5 kg of
oil.
 Oil content in davana is maximum in the
flower head and is much less in the leaf
and stem. Farmers are paid Rs.3,000-
3,500 per tonne of fresh davana herb.
THANK
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