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Arom
c Plants
Sweet Marjoram
Scienti c name: Marjorana hortensis Moench; Syn: Origanum marjorana Linn. Family: Lamiaceae (Labiatae) Vernacular names: Hindi: Murwa, Marawaa, Maruvam; Sanskrit: Marubaka,
Sukhatmaka, Maruvaka; Kannada:
Maruga; Tamil: Maruvu, Marukkolundan; Bengali: Murru; Malayalam: Maruvamu
Marjorarn (M. hortensis) is an aromatic '
perennial herbaceous plant. Whole plant,
leaves, seeds and essential oil are put to a o variety of uses. Fresh springs of this plant are also used to flavour garlands, bouquets and for higher adornment. Traditionally, leaves of plant are used fresh or dried and are highly esteemed
as a condiment for seasoning food. Fresh leaves are employed as garnish and incorporated in salads and vinegar. Dried owering tops are used for sachets
and potpourri. Aromatic seeds also find use in confectionery. Steam distillation of leaves and ower heads give a volatile oil known in trade as oil of sweet
marjoram. Oil is mainly employed in flavouring food and is much in demand
in food processing industries for avouring ca.nned food. To a small extent, it
is used in high grade avouring preparations and in perfumes and soaps.
Medicinally, it is used as an external application for sprains, bruises, stiff and paralytic limbs, toothache and for hot fomentation in acute diarrhoea. Sweet Marjoram is carminative, expectorant and tonic; leaves and seeds are astringent. Essential oil obtained from leaves of marjoram has antimicrobial and nematicidal activity.
Habitat and Distribution
Plant is native to southern Europe, North Africa and Asia minor. It is an important kitchen herb with a wide range of uses and is cultivated throughout Europe and Mediterranean region as well as North and South America. France and Egypt are the biggest exporters of marjoram oil in the world. In India, crop is cultivated only on a small scale. It is grown in home gardens in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu. It is primarily a warm climate plant and as such rather sensitive to cold. It requires sunny position, though midday shade is preferred. Marjoram prefers well drained and nutrient rich soil for its successful growth. It has a strong avour when grown in rich soil.
Other Sources qfrl romatic Oils _ii_Z______i____ Z l 7
The plant
Marjoram is a perennial herbaceous plant, grown often as an annual, because it does not survive well in wet and cold winters. It grows to an upright, compact bush about 20 40 cm height, with a woody main stem and many softer branches. Leaves are oblong ovate, soft, matte green with a marvelous, sweet, spicy, pleasant smell. Flowers are small, whitish or purplish, arranged
in terminal clusters; seeds minute, oval and dark brown.
Cultivation Crop is usually grown vegetatively through cuttings although it can also be grown by seeds, which is a little cumbersome method. Planting time is one
of the important factors in obtaining optimum yields from a unit area. Seeds
can be sown twice a year during Iune Iuly and September October. They are
sown in well prepared nursery beds in rows spaced at about 15cm apart.
About 50 gm seeds give sufficient seedlings to plant a hectare area. As the seeds are tiny, they are mixed with dry sand (1:10) and broadcasted in rows of nicely prepared nursery beds. A thin layer of sand is spread uniformly over seeds. Seeds germinate after 8 10 days. Seedlings are ready for transplanting when they are two months old. Commercial propagation is done through cuttings. Stem cuttings obtained from second ratoon are the best for planting. Herbaceous cuttings of 15 cm length are taken from healthy plant. They require
one month to root. Individual polythene bags of small size may also be used
to raise plants through cuttings. In this method, roots do not get damaged while transplanting and establishment rate is 90 95%. Healthy seedlings, or
rooted cuttings with well developed root system are used for transplanting in
main field at a spacing of 15x7.5 cm. First harvest is done after 90 days of planting, when crop starts owering. While harvesting, about 10 cm of shoot above ground level is left for further growth. Subsequent harvest can be carried out after 45 days of first harvest. On an average, about 4 5 harvests are taken armually. Crop can be retained up to seven cuttings under good management.
Extraction and utilisation
To get oil of export quality, first harvest should be done only after 90
days of planting. Oil is extracted by steam distillation. Oil content in fresh leaves of rnarjoram ranges from 0.3 0.5%. Dry plant gives up to 1 % oil. On an
average 35 40 kg oil is obtained from one hactre of the crop per year.
Physico chemical properties ofoil Major components of the oil are terpinen 4 ol (30.55%), (z) sabinene hydrate (I6.86%) Y terpinene (6.37%), p cymene (5.83%), (E) sabinene (4.81 %),
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Aromatic Plants
tr terpineol (3.71%), (E) sabinene hydrate (3.63%), 7 terpinene (2.67%) and linalyl acetate (2.41%) Leaf oil has following physico chemical properties.
Specific gravity at 33C
Phenolic content Refractive index at14.5C Optical rotation Acid value Ester value Ester value after acetylation
0.845
48.00 1.5060 40.30 5.60 36.00 4 4.26
Gas chromatographic analysis showed that leaf oil consisted of 11 pinene 6.32%, B pinene 7.14%, di ljmonene 2.94%, camphene 3.92%, bomyl acetate 3.51%, B ocimene 2.94%, oz thujone 3.12%, 1,8 cineole 7.32%, myrcene 2.84%, p cymene 14.0%, d ct terpineol 4.8%, methyl chavicol 3.20%, carvacrol 36.70%, geraniol 7.94%, eugenol 26.0%, azulene 3.92% and caryophyllene 7.60%.
