Extraction Technologies for Medicinal and Aromatic ... - Capacity4Dev

1 AN OVERVIEW OF EXTRACTION TECHNIQUES FOR MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS
Some of these techniques are discussed in other chapters.
Here, a few important, relevant references are provided.
1.4 Conclusions
Some of the major constraints in sustainable industrial exploitation
of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are due to the fact that
the countries of South East Asia have poor agricultural practices for MAPs,
unscientifi c and indiscriminate gathering practices from the wild, poor postharvest
and post-gathering practices leading to poor quality raw material,
lack of research for the development of high-yielding varieties of MAPs, poor
propagation methods, ineffi cient processing techniques, poor quality control
procedures, lack of research on process and product development, diffi -
culty in marketing, non-availability of trained personnel, lack of facilities and
tools to fabricate equipment locally, and fi nally lack of access to the latest
technologies and market information. This calls for co-operation and coordination
among various institutes and organizations of the region, in order
to develop MAPs for sustainable commercial exploitation.
The process of extracting MAPs determines how effi ciently we
add value to MAP bioresources. In the case of essential oils, the extraction
process affects the physical as well as internal composition. External appearance,
at times, can result in rejection of the batch even if the analytical
results are within acceptable limits. Furthermore, essential oils are evaluated
internationally for their olfactory properties by experienced perfumers
and these olfactory qualities supersede analytical results. Variations in the
chemical constituents of the extracts of medicinal plants may result by using
non-standardized procedures of extraction. Efforts should be made to
produce batches with quality as consistent as possible (within the narrowest
possible range).
Bibliography
Abraham, M. A., Sunol, A. K., 1997, Supercritical Fluids: Extraction and Pollution
Prevention, ACS Symposium Series, 670, Washington
Banoti, A., 1980, Problems relating to the preparation and use of extracts from medicinal
plants, Fitoterapia, 51: 5-11
Baser, K. H. C. and Kurkcuoglu, M., 1999, SPME and Headspace Assay Development:
Application to Rose Products, In: Proceedings of the IFEAT Conference, 8-12
November 1998, London, p. 298-305
Baser, K. H. C., 1999, Essential oil extraction from natural products – nontraditional
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