ABSTRACT
References .................................................................................................................................... 201 8.3 Distillation of Essential Oil Reinhold Carle..................................................................... 202
8.3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 202 8.3.2 Production of Chamomile Oil................................................................................... 203 8.3.3 Methods of Production.............................................................................................. 204
8.3.3.1 Batch Method.......................................................................................... 204 8.3.3.2 Quasi-Continuous Method ...................................................................... 204 8.3.3.3 Continuous Method................................................................................. 205
8.3.4 Evaluation of the Methods........................................................................................ 206 References .................................................................................................................................... 208
After harvesting, chamomile is a very perishable product during storage. This applies equally for the harvested whole herbs and, to an even greater extent, for the flowers. The main deterioration phenomena are:
• Dropping of the external quality traits, especially the natural green color of the leaves and stems and the light colors of the flowers
• Loss of particularly valuable ingredients due to material conversions, wilting due to transpiration, and physically induced escape
• Increased formation of grit through the decay of the flowers and separation of the leaves from the herb, both triggered by aging (senescence) processes
• A rise in the microbiological contamination of the product to be dried through warming and heating, especially in combination with mechanical damages and pressure points
• A marked shortening of the subsequent storability of the dried product
The very high respiration rate of harvested chamomile, which reaches a mean value of 999 W t-1 for flowers at 10˚C (Section 7.1.1), accelerates these changes and leads, without ventilation, to an extremely fast rise in the stack temperature. On the other hand, chamomile reacts very easily to various external factors. For this reason, chamomile flowers and herbs should be regarded as very drying-sensitive crops.
