Scents and aromas improve our outlook of life.

Imagine how life would be if we didn’t have the smell of roses?

Imagine how the cinnamon or cardamon entices you to drink your tea.

Or even the scent of the coriander in that soup.

All these great aromas are due to natural chemicals secreted by these plants which we find so enticing.

When we infuse them in our food or drink, they make life much better than we think.

But they’re not only useful aesthetically.

MEDICINAL USES

A number of these aromas have been associated with prevention of some diseases and conditions.

They are a medicinal war chest available to anyone willing to take them seriously.

Imagine the quinine that was extracted from the Cinchona tree and used to fight malaria…

Imagine numerous potentially anti cancer agents derived from indegineous trees, flowers and plants.

Infact, chemistry has a whole sector committed to research, production and testing of such pharmaceutical agents.

This is the realm of ‘natural products‘ chemistry which puts tropical nations in Africa, South America and Southern Asia at an advantage and here’s why.

BOTANICALS

The tropics avail a more diverse range of plant species than those in the temperate regions – those in Europe and North America.

Take a walk in a forested area one day…

Take in the scents around you…

Let your olfactory – or smelling – senses go on an adventure.

The smell of herbs, flowers and trees create a freshness of life we simply can’t resist.

But these scents could be extracted and used in different applications.

Food & beverage, medicinal, perfumes and skinscare are among the most common of uses.

That being said, how could we isolate these fragrances and make use of them?

INFUSED OILS

Oils could be used for different applications.

But these oils take a whole different meaning when they are infused with fragrances from favorite herbs and botanicals.

Take for instance a reputable cooking oil company which sells a brand infused with garlic to make cooking better.

Infusing of scents requires soaking of the relevant herbs in olive or coconut oils – or oils of your choice – over a period of time.

Thereafter, the infused oil is strained and ready for use.

But beyond infused oils, oils could also be extracted from some herbs, flowers and plants also called essential oils.

ESSENTIAL OILS

Just take a tour to your nearby pharmacy and ask for the price of any essential oil.

Take for instance a 10ml of eucalyptus oil could sell at over USD 10.

Such a high price for a small quantity of oil tells us something about its value.

Most essential oils are derived from herbs that already have many medicinal uses.

So these oils are a concentrate of the active ingredients from these herbs and plants making them to attract a high price even in small quantities.

But there’s another reason why essential oils are this expensive.

Their extraction is by the use of sophisticated distillation setups which use lots of energy and water.

But this doesn’t have to be the case if its for home use.

There are entrepreneurs who’ve extracted oils from herbs like mint, basil etc using a simple pressure cooker.

But another reason why these oils are expensive is because we obtain very little oil from a large quantity of herbs.

Infact, the oil content in water after extraction is most of the time less than 1%.

However, these oils are concentrated and only need a few drops for use.

These oils could be extracted from as many plants and herbs as possible and their benefits tested before sale or export.

Herbs and essential oils could promote conservation of indigenous species which have very unique types of oils.

Take for instance tropical forests in western or coastal Kenya or better still in the Congo basin or Amazon.

The sheer number of tree and herb species could lead to discoveries of substances that could fight cancer, diabetes and hypertension.

IN CONCLUSION

Which herbs grow around your neighborhood?

Do they have a scent?

Investigate about the benefits these herbs may have and go on a mission to make use of them.

Better still, find ways of promoting use of already known herbs and spices – the cinnamon, cardamon, ginger, garlic, basil, mint etc.

Don’t stop at that.

Understand their benefits – many write ups are there in thr Internet.

Lastly, possibly find ways of extracting essential oils from them for sale.