Harvesting, processing and Yield

Harvesting, processing and Yield

    The crop is harvested in about 4-5 month as soon as the flower initiation takes place. The crop is cut 15-30cm above the ground level and dried in shade. The fresh herbage yield is about 10-15t/ha which in turn gives 30-40kg/ha of essential oil. The essential oil percentage varies from 0.2-0.4%. The essential oil content is highest in inflorescence. The yellow flowers are reported to contain 2-4 fold higher concentration of artemisinin as compared to the leaves.

    Distillation of oil
    The essential oil from the fresh or dried leaves and flowers can be extracted by steam distillation or by solvent extraction method using hexane.

Last modified: Wednesday, 4 April 2012, 9:12 AM