Manufacture of valerian essential oil
Karina-Agro Ltd. manufactures valerian essential oil in its own essential oils distillation plant. The entire process of crop cultivation and raw material processing is fully automated from the harvesting of the plants to the extraction of the essential oil using high-performance machines.
Valerian is an old medicinal plant. Its rhizomes and roots contain a large number of various active substances, such as essential oils, glycosides, valerine and catinine alkaloids, resins, slime, tannins, free organic acids, etc. Due to the content of these ingredients, and especially of essential oil, valerian roots are the main raw material for the preparation of a number of medications with sedative effect.
Valerian preparations, such as tinctures and extracts, soothe the neurotic conditions of the brain hemispheres and and thus indirectly promote the treatment of a number of internal diseases.
The valerian rhizome is 2-4 cm long and about 1-3 cm thick.
The roots are located on the rhizome and are smooth. The length of the extracted roots is about 20 cm and the thickness is 1-3 mm. They are light brown to yellow in colour.
The stems of the plant are annual and grow up during the second year after sowing. They are hollow, ribbed, erect, and heavily branched toward the tip. Their height reaches up to 2 metres and are grass-green anthocyanin coloured.
The leaves are imparipinnate and composed of 7 to11 portions with an ovoid lanceolate, linear lanceolate or linear form. The leaf margin is smooth or densely serrated. The lower leaves are long-stalked and the upper ones are sitting.
The inflorescences are located on the vertices and branches of the stems. They are panicle-shaped, large and hemispherical.
The flowers are small, synoecious, with a lower-positioned seedbud. The corolla is a funnel of 5 parts and pale pink color. The calyx has grown together with the pistil and ends with 5 small, slightly noticeable teeth. Later they develop into pappuses with the help of which the seeds are scattered by the wind. In each flower there are three stamens.
The fruit is a bare, small, elongated, one-seed capsule. The weight of 1000 fruits reaches 0.4-0.5 gr.
Valerian blooms continuously – from May to August.
The essential oil of valerian is contained in its roots and rhizomes. It is a yellowish-green liquid of not particularly pleasant aroma, which is due to the presence of free isovaleric acid. The content of essential oil in valerian roots varies greatly – from 0.1 to 2.0% and depends mainly on the period of extraction of the roots, the drying and preservation mode, the genus of the raw material, etc.
