Ceylon Citronella Oil

#### Citronella Oil, Ceylon. Ceylon citronella oil is steam distilled from the leaves (grass) of the so-called **Lenabatu **variety of the citronella grass. This variety is cultivated in Ceylon only. It can be considered a variety of Managrass, the only wild growing citronella grass which is also found in Ceylon. Cultivation of **Lenabatu **grass is concentrated in a comparatively small area on the southernmost tip of Ceylon. The grass is dried prior to the distillation which is carried out locally in primitive stills. Annual production has been surprisingly stable, between 500 and 800 metric tons during the past 50 years. Until 1926, the Ceylon type of citronella oil was the most important and the largest one. But the production of Java-type (see monograph: **Citronella Oil, Java**-type) has increased steadily because of its better yield and higher content of "totalgeraniol" (see below). **Ceylon Citronella Oil **is a yellow to brownish yellow or even olive-brown liquid, occasionally hazy due to a water surplus. The odor is very peculiar, warm-woody and yet fresh, grassy and somewhat reminiscent of wet leaves. Geraniol and citronellal are the main constituents, but they are not predominant in the odor of this oil. The camphene-borneol-methyleugenol complex seems to characterize the odor of Ceylon citronella oil. The oil is used extensively in low-cost perfumes for soap-flakes, detergents, floorwaxes, cleansers, insecticides and other household products. Its great masking power makes it an effective and universally applicable material for technical products, industrial perfumes, etc. Mixed with cedar- wood oil "Virginia", it has been a popular remedy against mosquito attacks for many years prior to the appearance of DDT and other modern insecticides. In the chemical industry, it serves as a starting material for the production of geraniol, citronellol, citronellal and menthol. For these purposes, however, the Java type oil presents definite advantages and may completely replace the Ceylon type. In spite of its extremely low cost, Ceylon citronella oil has been subject to very serious adulterations for many decades. Only quite recently, the Ceylonese authorities attacked the problems caused by a series of disastrous adulterations of the locally distilled oil by instituting thorough control measures which should now guarantee the customers against future "on-thespot" adulterations and contaminations. Commercial lots of poor grade oils are still appearing on the market, some with considerable amounts of water, others with precipitate, etc. But the "old" type of adulteration with coconut oil, kerosene or rice alcohol is becoming rare. On its way to consumers through transithouses, the oil may be adulterated with more skill, e.g. with fractions from geraniol production, with orange terpenes, lemon oil terpenes, camphor oil fractions, etc. An olfactory test will usually reveal such additions. See also **Citronella**** ****Oil,**** ****Java**-type, following monograph.