Patchouli

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Patchouli

Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth; also patchouly or pachouli) is a species from the genus Pogostemon
Pogostemon

Pogostemon is a large genus from the family Lamiaceae. The best known member of this genus is Patchouli....
and a bushy herb

Herb

A herb is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties, flavor, scent, or the like....
of the mint

Lamiaceae

Lamiaceae or Labiatae, also known as the mint family, is a family of plants comprising about 210 genera and some 3,500 species. It has been considered closely related to Verbenaceae but several recent phylogenetic studies have shown that numererous genera classified in Verbenaceae belong instead in Lamiaceae, whereas the core genera of...
family, with erect stem

Plant stem

A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaf, inflorescence , conifer cones or other stems etc....
s, reaching two or three feet (about 0.75 metre

Metre

The metre or meter is a Unit of measurement of length. It is the SI base unit of length in the metric system and in the International System of Units , used around the world for general and scientific purposes....
) in height and bearing small pale pink-white flowers. The plant is native to tropical regions of Asia and is now extensively cultivated in Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
countries, China

China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Indonesia

Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
, Malaysia

Malaysia

Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government....
, Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius, , is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres east of Madagascar....
, Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
and Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
.

scent of patchouli is heavy and strong.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Patchouli'

Start a new discussion about 'Patchouli'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Herb

A herb is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties, flavor, scent, or the like....
of the mint

Lamiaceae

Plant stem

Metre

Caribbean

China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, India

India

Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
, Malaysia

Malaysia

Mauritius

Philippines

West Africa

Vietnam

Etymology

The scent of patchouli is heavy and strong. It has been used for centuries in perfume

Perfume

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces a pleasant smell....
s and continues to be so today. The word derives from the Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has Official language in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore....
patchai (green), ellai (leaf). In Assamese

Assamese language

Assamese is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language that is spoken mainly in the States and territories of India of Assam in North-East India. It is also the official language of Assam....
it is known as xukloti.

Pogostemon cablin, P. commosum, P. hortensis, P. heyneasus and P. plectranthoides are all cultivated for their oils and all are known as 'patchouli' oil, but P. cablin is considered superior.

Extraction of the essential oil

Essential oil

An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. They are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant material from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove....
is by steam distillation

Steam distillation

Steam distillation is a special type of distillation for temperature sensitive materials like natural aromaticity compounds.Many organic compounds tend to Chemical decomposition at high sustained temperatures....
, requiring the cell walls of the leaves to be first ruptured. This can be achieved by steam scalding, light fermentation, or by drying.

Leaves are harvested several times a year, and where dried may be exported for distillation of the oil. Sources disagree over how to obtain the best quality oil. Some claim the highest quality oil is usually produced from fresh leaves, distilled close to the plantation, while others claim baling the dried leaves and allowing them to ferment a little is best.

Uses

In Europe and the US, patchouli oil and incense

Incense

Incense is composed of aromatic Biotic material materials. It releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term incense refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces....
underwent a surge in popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly among devotees of the free love

Free love

The term free love has been used since at least the nineteenth century to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage, especially for women....
and hippie

Hippie

The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world. The word hippie derives from hipster , and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district....
lifestyles.

Conditioner and repellent

It has also been used as a hair conditioner

Hair conditioner

Hair conditioner is a hair care product that alters the texture and appearance of human hair....
for dreadlocks

Dreadlocks

Dreadlocks, also called locks or dreads, are matted coils of hair which form by themselves eventually fusing together to form a single dread....
. One study suggests Patchouli oil may serve as an outdoor insect repellent.

Medicinal uses

In several Asian countries, such as Japan and Malaysia, Patchouli is also used as an antidote for venomous snakebite

Snakebite

Snakes often bite their prey when feeding, but occasionally they also bite humans. People can avoid and treat snakebites by knowing their etiology, along with prevention tips, and first-aid and hospital treatment....
s. The plant and oil have a number of claimed health benefits in herbal folk-lore, and its scent is used with the aim of inducing relaxation. Chinese medicine uses the herb to treat headaches, colds, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Patchouli oil can be purchased from mainstream Western pharmacies and alternative therapy

Alternative therapy

Alternative therapy may refer to:*Alternative medicine*Alternative therapies for developmental and learning disabilities...
sources as an aromatherapy

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile liquid plant materials, known as essential oils , and other aromatic compounds from plants for the purpose of affecting a person's mood or health....
oil.

Perfume uses

Patchouli is also in widespread use in modern industry. It is a popular component in perfume

Perfume

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces a pleasant smell....
s, including more than half of perfumes for men. Patchouli is also an important ingredient in East Asian incense

Incense

Incense is composed of aromatic Biotic material materials. It releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term incense refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces....
. It is also used as a scent in products like paper

Paper

Paper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
towels, laundry detergent

Detergent

A detergent is a material intended to assist cleaning. The term is sometimes used to differentiate between soap and other surfactants used for cleaning....
s, and air fresheners. Two important components of the essential oil is patchoulol

Patchoulol

Patchoulol or patchouli alcohol is a terpene extracted from Patchouli. The -optical isomer one of the organic compounds responsible for the typical patchouli scent....
and norpatchoulenol

Norpatchoulenol

Norpatchoulenol is a tricyclic terpenoid found in commercial patchouli extract in small quantities, and thought to contribute significantly to the aroma of patchouli oil....
.

During the 18th and 19th century silk traders from China travelling to the Middle East packed their silk

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from Pupa#Cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity ....
cloth with dried patchouli leaves to prevent moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the Order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy....
s from laying their eggs on the cloth. Many historians speculate that this association with opulent eastern goods is why patchouli was considered by Europeans of that era to be a luxurious scent. It is said that Patchouli was used in the linen chests of Queen Victoria in this way. .

Cultivation

Patchouli grows well in warm to tropical climates. It thrives in hot weather but not direct sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total spectroscopy of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is Filter ed through the Earth's atmosphere, and the solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon....
. If the plant withers due to lack of watering it will recover well and quickly once it has been watered. The seed-bearing flowers are very fragrant and bloom in late fall. The tiny seeds may be harvested for planting, but they are very delicate and easily crushed. Cuttings from the mother plant can also be rooted in water to produce further plants.

External links

, from ask.Yahoo.com
Natural Insect Repellents