Activities Completed:

A distillation of trial of wintergreen and artemisia was carried out over a period of four days from 28th June to 1st July 2008 in the vegetable market area in Dramitse town. The purpose of this trial was to produce samples of wintergreen and Artemisia oil distilled from leaves produced in the summer season and also to make an estimate of the cost of production in order to check the economic viability for trading the oils.

During the trial, a total of approximately 1.150 kg of oil was distilled from 470 kg of wintergreen leaves and 1.650 kg of oil from Artemisia leaves over a period of four days. Two distillation units were installed for distilling wintergreen and Artemisia oil. The distillation unit used for distilling Artemisia oil belonged to one of the farmers and was of the regular stainless steel 150 liter capacity type which is currently being used by all the lemon grass oil distillers. This drum could accommodate an average of 114 kg of Artemisia leaves. The other unit used for distilling the wintergreen oil was provided by the Lemon Grass Cooperative and was of a larger type (300 liter capacity) which could accommodate 160 kg of wintergreen leaves.

2nd trial was held from December 5-7, 2008 at Yayung. Only wintergreen oil was distilled in the second trial. Artemisia was excluded from the second trial because the market response to the samples of the oil extracted in the first trial was not good. The purpose of the second trial was to assess differences in the yield of wintergreen oil from the leaves of the winter season and also to find ways to reduce the cost of production.

During the 2nd trial, a total of 1.2 kg of wintergreen oil was distilled from 818 kg of leaves over a period of three days. 2 distillation units, both of the regular 150 liter capacity were used for the trial.

There are 4 basic steps to follow during the distillation of wintergreen and Artemisia:
1. collection of wintergreen and Artemisia branches from forest and carrying to distillation site;
2. plucking off leaves from branches;
3. distillation of wintergreen oil in a 160 kg capacity drum (which requires weighing of leaves and loading; heating of drum till heat reaches the top of the drum; cooling of drum (intentional fermentation); reheating the drum; distillation of oil with distillate continuously poured back into the boiler (cohobation); and cleaning of drum and reloading with leaves);
4. Distillation of Artemisia oil in a 114 kg capacity drum which again have to (weighing of leaves and loading; heating the drum, distillation of oil and cleaning of drum and reloading with leaves).

Marketing:
Samples of wintergreen and Artemisia oil distilled from the first trial were sent to a number of companies in Belgium, France and India. Response for the wintergreen oil was very good where potential customers expressed that the quality of the oil was excellent. One of the companies had also expressed their interest in ordering 400 kg of oil. However, the costs were found to be very high. Hence further efforts need to be made to reduce the cost of production for the oils.

The Artemisia oil was stated to be a mixture of various components, hence the immediate response was that customers are not interested in the oil. However, efforts are still underway to promote the oil in companies where the oil is used based on the appearance and aroma of the oil and not the active ingredients.