PATCHOULI

Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth

Background...

Pogostemon cablin has many common names according to the places. In Borneo such as Acheh and Malaysia it was known as Nilam. Meanwhile in Philippine it was called Kabling. European named this species with Patchouli. This plant is thought to be originated from Philippine. This species can be found easily in the islands of this country. Nilam was introduced in Malaysia since early of 1800 by the farmers. But it was not established yet in Malaysia due to the competition with Hevea sp. (getah) in that time. The farmers give more focusing in this crop because of their benefits compared to the Nilam crops. Meanwhile in the Jawa Island especially Acheh area, Nilam was very important as main sources for the essential oil processing and manufacturing as well as Brazil and China. There are three types of Nilam which are Nilam Aceh (Pogostemon cablin), Nilam Jawa (Pogostemon hortensis) dan Nilam tipis (Pogostemon heyneanus). According to the percentage of production of essential oil, Nilam Acheh (Pogostemon cablin) is the most popular compared to the others. Nilam oil was used as a main sources in traditional medicine. It has higher contain of essential oil.

Nowadays, Indonesia is the one of the main eksporters for the essential oil/ atsiry oil in the world. Their essential oil can be commercialised in the market for many purposes. At international level, this oil was called patchouli oil. In the Tamil language, patchai mean ‘green’ and ellai refered to the leaves. That species was diffilcut to produce flowers if growth in tropical area except those with in-vitro technique. Their oil will be collected by extraction process at leaves and stems part. The young leaves produced more yield than the old one. The matured plants occured between 6 to 8 month after the plantation.


Classifications of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth

Kingdom : Plantae
Sub kingdom : Tracheobionta
Super division : Spermatophyta
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Asteridae
Order : Lamiales
Family : Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
Genus : Pogostemon
Species : Pogostemon cablin
Common Name/Vernacular Name : Nilam (Aceh, Malaysia)
Kabling (Phliphine)
Patchouli (Europe)


Morphology and Biology Characteristics

Nilam is categorised as a herbs about 1 to 2 metres high. They have many branches and formed a thicket area. It was growth at the villages, growth errectly and have their own time to survive. This species in Malaysia not produced flowers. They have smelly odour which are good to avoid the pests. Leaves are solitary, ovate to oblong about 8-10 cm long and 5 -8 cm width. Their margin are wavy and hairy at the above surface. The colour of leaves is greeny purple. But, their leaves were produced aromatic odour when it was blended. Stem and branches was purple in color, rectangular and was sheath with a thin hairy layers.

The stomata found in both surfaces and caryophyllaceous type. Their leaves have a large glandular hairs with unicellular cell. The collenchyma cell are in a closed ring in the primary cortex.

This plant are prefered in shaded and higher condition. Their reproductive behaviour by vegetative ways. It can be found either in lowland or highland. But, their optimum level is around 10 to 400 metres from the sea level. They need enough water supply with rainfall around 2000 until 3500 mm per year. The suitable temperature about 24°C to 28°C with 75% humidity. This species have several reactive chemical agents like Patchouli alcohol, Patchouli camphor,Cadinene, Benzaldehyde,Eugenol and Cinnamic aldehyde.