Faiza Tehseen

Pakistan can unleash its potential in the production of the crops that give essential oils to save a lot of foreign exchange spent on their import for different industrial purposes.

Discussing with WealthPK the potential of essential oils extraction in Pakistan, Dr Riffat Tahira, principal scientific officer (plant introduction and seed health laboratory) at National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), said the centre was launching the “National Medicinal, Aromatic Plants and Herbs Programme” under its Plant Genetic Resources Institute (PGRI), to produce essential oils at laboratory scale from its own repository of aromatic herbs, flowers, etc.

She said worldwide production of essential oils was about 110,000 tonnes per annum. She said China, Brazil, the USA, Mexico, South America, and India were the top producers. In 2021, she added Pakistan imported $209 million worth of essential oils, concretes, absolutes, aqueous distillates (ark), and aqueous solutions of essential oils. “More than 300 industrial units in Pakistan are importing a sizeable quantity of essential oils or related products to produce a variety of personal care products, cosmetics, cleaning agents, insecticides, and aroma therapy products.”

Riffat Tahira said essential oils were highly complex mixture of hundreds of individual aroma compounds. “They are usually prepared by fragrance extraction techniques like distillation (including steam distillation), cold pressing, maceration, and super-critical CO₂ fluid extraction.” She said the extraction method employed mainly depended on essential oil quantity and volatility of the chemical constituent present. She said essential oils were used in a variety of products as flavorants, odorants and pharmaceutical ingredients.

The NARC scientist said popular crops to extract essential oils were citrus, mints (peppermint, spearmint), lemongrass, litsea cubeba, citronella, etc. “Essential oils of bergamot and citrus peel are used to create basal notes to produce the expensive perfumery.”

She said diverse climate of northern areas, Balochistan, and the Potohar region was superbly ideal for growing varieties of aromatic species like rose, lemongrass and lavender, etc.

She said yield of essential oil from citrus peel was about 0.5 to three kilogrammes per tonne. “Unfortunately, it is wasted in huge quantities by juice processing factories.” She said Uruguay, UAE, and the USA were the big importers of citrus peel from Pakistan. She added that this raw material was sold at a cheap rate, noting that if it was further processed to extract the essential oils, good economic benefits could be obtained.   

Chaudhary Basharat Ali, Chaudhary Farms, and Chowk Azam Layyah, told WealthPK that public-private partnership could help develop this industry. “If farmers are provided with training, awareness and access to international market, they will certainly be encouraged to boost production of the ingredients used in the extraction of essential oils.”

He pointed out that most farmers had stopped growing flower crops in Layyah district because they were not getting the economic benefits. “They can be pursued with lucrative incentives to start producing such crops once again.”

He said farmers did not have the idea if they could carry out essential oil extraction, which was not a complicated thing, and could be done by installing small units individually or through a group effort. “Pakistan can follow the Chinese example as the country has greatly supported its farmers to earn profits in this regard.”

Shumail Nizam, a professional flower cultivator from Pattoki region of Punjab, said if value addition to outcrops provided him economic benefits, then he would obviously grow them. “Right now, in Pakistan, no such effort is made to train people to extract essential oils or other related products. But, if they are provided with proper facilities, training and backup support to access the market, it will work wonders. Being an agricultural country, it is also good to develop this sector. Housewives can also be involved in this type of project to make good earnings for their families.”   

Muhammad Bilal, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Asim Perfumers from Boulton Market, Karachi, told WealthPK that it was good to see that NARC planned to establish the local essential oil and perfumery industry, which he added, was necessary. “A lot of industries import essential oils for different purposes. It will help them get it at comparatively low rates at home. With the development of a new industrial segment, a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises and labourers will be created.”

Perfumer and importer of essential oils, Muhammad Yousuf, said the local production of essential oils would save them from costly imports. “Lavender, lemon grass, mint (by which menthol is produced), orange peel, and a lot of other direct/raw materials are available in the country in enough quantity. Their local extraction/distillation will give huge economic benefits to the country and its people.”

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk