180 PHILIPPINE RESINS, GUMS, AND OILS 



such as the vetivenes, vetivenol, vetivenic acid, vetivenyl ace- 

 tate, and similar compounds. 



Bacon * reports the results of his investigation on vetiver as 

 follows : 



(1) Thirty kilos of fresh vetiver roots were distilled for two working 

 days (seven hours each) with steam, the condensed water being continually 

 poured back over the roots, and the oil collected in a little petroleum ether 

 to effect easier separation from the water, as the vetiver oil has almost 

 the same specific gravity as water. The petroleum ether was distilled in 

 vacuo and there were thus separated 327 grams of a light yellow oil (1.09 

 per cent) which had a very strong, pleasant odor and the following prop- 

 erties: Specific gravity, ?2! =0.9935; A ^-=+32.1; N ^ = 1.5212; sapon- 

 ification number =47.4 



The roots used in the above experiment were obtained from small gardens 

 about Manila and were crushed between the rollers of a sugar mill before 

 being distilled. Such a crushing of the roots seems to improve the yield 

 of oil. 



(2) Thirty-one kilos of fresh roots, uncrushed, on distillation as above 

 gave 140 grams oil (0.3 per cent). 



(3) Six kilos of dried roots, uncrushed, gave by extraction with ligroin 

 14 grams of an oil which had only a very slight vetiver odor. 



(4) Eighty-one kilos of dry moras which had been stored in jute sacks 

 for about three months after harvesting, were distilled with steam with 

 continuous cohobation and yielded 370 grams of oil (0.4.56 per cent) of an 

 intense odor and brown color. This oil had the following properties: 



Specific gravity, ?^= 0.9964; N 3^° = 1.-5163 ; A ^^=+32.1; saponification 



number = 60.0. 



It is to be noted that this oil with a higher saponification number has a 

 much stronger odor than that obtained in experiment 1 given above (sapon- 

 ification number =47.4 



(5) A plot of well-fertilized ground containing 1.50 square meters was 

 planted with vetiver grass. In six months time the plants had flowered and 

 reached maturity ; they were then i-emoved, giving 270 kilos of roots, or 

 at the rate of over 18,000 kilos per crop per hectare. However, it was 

 found when these roots were transferred to the laboratory, that they had 

 lost most of their odor, and they gave so small a yield of oil as not to 

 make it worth while to distill them. Some of these plants had been pulled 

 up from time to time and tested for their oil content; they seem to contain 

 the oil up to the time of flowering. 



These preliminary experiments seemed to indicate that the proper time 

 for harvesting is about three months after planting, at which time, of 

 course, the yield of roots is not nearly so heavy. The oil in the roots is a 

 protection, and is withdrawal when the plant flowers and seeds. We have 

 planted all of our vetiver by simply burying pieces of divided root tufts 

 in the ground. We have as yet made no experiments on the propagation 

 of the grass from the seed. It was found that the roots can very con- 



* Bacon, R. F., Philippine terpenes and essential oils. III. Philippine 



Journal of Science, Section A, Volume 4 (1909), page 119. 



