Quality Study of Citronella Oil (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt.) in CV AB and PT. XYZ West Java

Abstract

Essential oils can be found in various types of plants that are spread throughout the world. Indonesia has at least 40 plant producers of commercial essential oil. Citronella oil is one of essential oil produced by Indonesia. Although in Indonesia many citronella oil farmers are able to process it into oil, in general the quality of the oil they produce is still low. For this reason, the aim of study is to increase the quality based on affect factors, so the quality can meet the industry standard. Samples (30 ml from 3 times distillation process) have been taken from Small Enterprise in Argapura Village, Cigudeg Bogor Regency, West Java. Sample from PT. XYZ has been used for comparative data. In this study, analysis based on SNI 06-3953-1995 and GC-MS (instrument Agilent Technologies 7890 Gas Chromatograph with AutoSampler and 5975 Mass Selective Detector and Chemstation data system) was conducted to know the composition of citronella oil. The result showed citronella oil has 11,37% (citronellal) lower than big industry (35%). Harvest age, land quality, machine quality, and pretreatment had an effect on the quality of citronella oil.