Abstract
Rose-scented geranium, the cultivar Rose, is a cross between Pelargonium capitatum and Pelargoniumradens. They are all belonging to the Geraniaceae family. The essential oil from this plant is commercially viable. The Rose-scented geranium was planted in three sites within the Amathole region of the Eastern Cape. These sites were Auckland, Lushington and Cathcartvale. The essential oil from this plant was obtained by steam distillation in all the sites on seasonal basis. A high amount of essential oil was obtained during the autumn season for Auckland and Lushington sites and in spring for the Cathcartvale site. The gas chromatography mass-spectroscopy (GC-MS) reveals that the chemical composition differed with harvesting time. The main characteristic volatile constituents of essential oil, citronellol, geraniol, linalool, cyclohexanone, trans-rose-oxide and β-caryophyllene was found in the seasons. Key words: Rose-scented geranium, essential oil, composition, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Highlights
The use of plants for commercial purposes has increased in an alarming rate over the past years
The essential oil extracted from fresh leaves (1 kg) of rose-scented geranium from Auckland, Cathcartvale and Lushington varied in quality, colour, and composition
Essential oil of rose-scented geranium leaves from all the three sites during autumn revealed that the dominant compounds according to their percentage composition were: citronellol, geraniol, and linalool
Summary
The use of plants for commercial purposes has increased in an alarming rate over the past years This increase can be associated with the utilization of plant products by most industries throughout the world. Most of these companies have changed their focus on producing synthetically materials, but rely mostly on natural products (Burt, 2004; Lima et al, 2004). Such products are used for preparation of different commodities such as antiseptics, spices, fragrance for commercial purposes (Nguefack et al, 2004; Auge et al, 2003; Tan et al, 2002). These plants are classified under different families such as Compositae, species which are regarded as herbs, essential oil producing species and other species have high medicinal
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