Coriander Leaf EO

Latin name :

Coriandrum sativum

Botanical profile :

Coriander is a plant belonging to the Apiaceae family and the genus Coriandrum.

Geographic origin :

Coriander is historically native to the Mediterranean sea and West Asia. Today, it is grown mainly in India (36% of world production in 2008), the main producer, but also in Bulgaria (28% in 2008), Morocco (7% in 2008) and Western Europe (France, Spain in particular).

Chemotypes :

There are two varieties of coriander:
Coriandrum sativum L. : Mainly cultivated specie The European variety is smaller, rounder and has a more powerful smell. The Indian variety is larger, oval and clear but has a less significant smell.
Coriandrum tordylium : Wid coriander, rarely used.

Extraction process :

India produces coriander on about 600,000 hectares of land, in other words 400,000 tons every year. Exports of cilantro seed from India represents 35% of world exports. The seedlings are usually propagated by seed sowing in October-November, at a rate of 12 to 30 kg of seed per hectare cultivated, depending on climatic conditions (the more moist the soil, the more seeds are planted). Seedlings are planted every one or several tens of centimetres. The cultivation of coriander is subject to the use of chemical or natural fertilizers depending on the crop. Finally, it needs a warm atmosphere and regular irrigation.
Seeds are usually collected by hand at their maturity (green to yellow in colour). Leaves are cut manually, gathering the stems and cutting them a few centimeters above the ground, and dried in the shade before steam distillation. At the end of the process, the essential oil is collected in an essencier by decantation.
The extraction yield of the essential oil oscillates between 3 and 4%.
Seeds are also extracted to recover Coriander Seeds EO, and whose supercritical CO₂ extraction enables the collection of an extract about 10% richer in Linalool than a conventional distillation.

Major Components :

7-Dodecenal (20-25%)
Aldehyde C-12 Lauric (15-20%)
Aldehyde C-10 (≈10%)
9-tetradecanal (≈9%)
5,8-tridecadienal (≈6%)
Aldehyde C-8 (≈5%)
Tridecanal (≈4%)
3,6-undecadienal (≈4%)
Aldehyde C-11 Undecylic (≈3%)