Kewda perfume industry is one of the important cottage industries in coastal Ganjam district of Orissa, which has initiated about 200 years ago. The semi-natural Kewda vegetation provides flowers and performs many ecological functions. The objective of this study was to analyze the ecology of flower collection and the technical know-how used in Kewda distillation and its ecological implication. The traditional methods of flower collection, processing and extraction of essence (Kewda attar, Kewda water and Kewda oil) from the flower were described in detail. Three sample sites were surveyed for flower collection and annual flower production ranged from 6253 to 6993 flowers per hectare. Maximum daily flower distillation in the 10 units surveyed ranged between 6084 and 13,235 flowers while annual consumption varied from 125 × 103 to 505 × 103 flowers. The material inputs were fuel wood, base oil and a large number of other traditional materials such as copper containers, lid and chunga. The annual firewood consumption in the distilleries varied from 18.83 to 75.72 Mg. The annual production of Kewda attar, Kewda water and Kewda oil in the distilleries varied from 57 to 243 l, 50 to 124 l and 150 to 469 gm respectively. Other outputs were charcoal and flower waste materials, which were used locally. This process needs improvement.
http://www.niscair.res.in/sciencecommunication/researchjournals/rejour/ijtk/Fulltextsearch/2007/April%202007/IJTK-Vol%206(2)-April%202007-pp%20253-261.htm
Kewda is an economically important plant due to its high priced flower essential oil. Quality of kewda oil by means of PEME percentage is the determinant of its market price. Time gap between collections of flowers from field and extraction of oil further stringent the rise and fall of PEME content and indirectly affect the quality of oil. Thus, this report bears immense potential towards solving the above problem and to provide a way out towards storage of kewda flowers without change in its oil quality and quantity. It also could be helpful to minimise great loss to the kewda growers.
Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science Vol. 7 (10), pp. 185-189, October, 2017
Available online at http://www.japsonline.com
DOI: 10.7324/JAPS.2017.71027
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