Prospects of Eucalyptus citriodora as essential oils potentially

Abstract

Zulnely, Gusmailina, Kusmiati E. 2015. Prospects of Eucalyptus citriodora as essential oil. Pros Sem Nas Masy Biodiv Indon 1 (1): 120-126. Essential oils also called as ethereal or volatile oils, are often used as raw materials in various industries, such as perfume industry, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, a flavoring agent in food and beverage industry. The local demand for essential oils is relatively high, both in volume and type of the oils, as the related industry is growing rapidly. Todays, essential oils are utilized a lot for aromatherapy, SPA and so on. Regarding the growing demand, the export volume will increase, thus opening opportunity of developing essential oils production, especially new type ones. Market opportunities of essential oils within and outside the country is largely open. Eucalyptus citriodora has great potential to be produced as economically important essential oils. This plant originally grows in Australia and recently is found growing in almost all tropical regions of the world including Indonesia. Yet, there is no record of the commercial plantation of the plant in Indonesia, probably because the public is generally not aware of the plant’s potential as sources of essential oils. This paper presents results of preliminary studies on the distillation and analysis of E. citriodora for essential oil. Essential oils obtained from the distillation ranged from 1.1 to 2.4%. The oils scent is soothing, pleasant and soft. The average number of the ester is 8.00, refractive index ranges from 1.3990 to 1.4506; and acid number ranges from 2.25 to 2.93. Results of GC-MS analysis showed that 53% of the 30 components contained is 1.4-Cyclohexadiene, 1-methyl-4- (1-methylethyl, a terpenoid compound with the formula C6H8. The potential source of the oils are the leaves and little twigs. Results from the content analysis showed the plant’s potential as a perfume scent, pharmaceutical ingredients, and insect repellent.