Page 133 - CW E-Magazine (20-2-2024)

Point of View

India’s dominant role in essential oils here to stay

Essential oils are plant-derived, complex mixtures of aroma-bearing molecules, and widely used in the fragrance & flavour (F&F)
industry and aromatherapy. Essential oils come with a ‘natural’ tag, which is all the rage now, but the business faces several challenges
amongst which regulatory scrutiny in the developed economies could be the most impactful. India is a leading producer of a wide range
of essential oils and there is great emphasis by the government on promoting cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants needed to make
them. Many oils find reference in Indian systems of medicine, notably ayurveda, and their F&F usage is just as ancient.

Positive impact on rural economies
The cultivation of aroma-bearing crops and the production of essential oils can revive rural economies. Experts from The International
Federation of Essential Oils and Aroma Trades (IFEAT), a global lobby group, estimates that over 10-mn farmers, pickers and tappers are
saved from poverty thanks to the aromatic crops they produce, often on small plots of land and at times with very ancient techniques.

They are often a complementary crop, supporting the farmer between food crops. A good example is Indian cornmint, Mentha arvensis,
one of the largest essential oils in the world. The crop is typically taken in summer (sown and harvested between March and June), after
harvesting winter food crops (sown in November or December) such as potato, mustard, lentil, Bengal gram or wheat, barley, peas. The
mint crops are harvested before the planting in June/July of rainy season food crops (mainly rice or pigeon-pea). Mint crops can double
the (still very low) earnings of farmers, and diversify their income, which is important with climate change making crop yields less
predictable. According to some estimates, mint cultivation, processing and export supports ~60,000 individuals in India, highlighting the
employment potential the essential oils industry, as a whole, offers.

Sound scientific infrastructure
India is well placed to build on what it has achieved so far. The diversity of agro-climatic conditions – from tropical to temperate –
permits cultivation of a variety of plant species. The sub-Himalayan regions of Himachal Pradesh, for example, provide opportunity to
grow aromatic crops of commercial importance like Damask rose, lavender, lavandin, geranium, chamomile, clarysage and artemesia,
while cultivation of palmarosa, vetivert, citronella, lemongrass, davana, etc. have been tried with reasonable success in southern parts
of the country.

Though the Indian essential oils industry is a fragmented one – with several hundred players engaged in its production, mostly in
small scale – they have the support of a well-diversified network of publicly-funded laboratories, notably in the Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR) system, and a reasonably well-organised industry association, the Essential Oils Association of India (EOAI),
to represent their interests to policy makers. Many lesser developed countries, notably in Africa, lack such infrastructure and are looking
to grow their local industries with India’s help. Some of this was acknowledged by speakers from Rwanda, Egypt, and Sri Lanka at a
conference organised this month in Chennai by EOAI (a detailed report of which will be carried in a forthcoming issue).

Mint – the first success
The first major success in the sector in India, achieved by a well-planned and orchestrated strategy, was in mint oils, via the cultivation
of high yielding varieties of mentha arvensis. The hub of mint cultivation in India is eastern Uttar Pradesh, but seeing its success, farmers
in neighbouring States, including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, have also embraced the crop. As a consequence of sustained efforts
by all stakeholders – scientists working in the CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP), Lucknow, deserve
a special mention – India is now the world’s leading producer of natural menthol, and ranks only behind China, amongst Asian countries,
in terms of output of all essential oils. Brazil and USA both rank higher, on a global basis, largely due to their dominance in orange oil – by
far, the single largest essential oil.
While the dominance akin to menthol has not been repeated in other crops, India does have strong market positions in several other
essential oils, including patchouli, Java citronella, lemongrass, scented geranium, rosemary, etc.

Aroma Mission – significant impacts
In recognition of the prospects this industry holds for transforming rural economies, the government embarked on an ‘Aroma Mission’
in 2016, with the aim of increasing the output of essential oils, by bringing stressed and marginal lands under cultivation of appropriate
aroma-bearing crops; and diversifying the basket of oils produced. The first two phases of the programme have been completed, and are
recognised as one of the outstanding successes of CSIR (it was showcased in this year’s Republic Day parade in New Delhi). The Mission,

Chemical Weekly February 20, 2024 133

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