Chemistry of Essential Oils

106 THE CHEMISTEY OF ESSENTIAL OILS

15° with separation of paraffin; the last-named body, when recrystal-
lised from alcohol, melted at 62° to 63°.
Korarima cardamom oil is the product of Amomum Korarima, the
yield of oil being from 1 to 2 per cent. It has the following char-
acters :—•
Specific gravity 0903
Optical rotation. - 3° to - 7°
Acid value.......... 3 „ 5
Ester „,,22 „ 50
„ „ (after acetylation) 100 „ 110
Oil of Aframomum angitstifolium (Amomum angustifolium) is an
oil obtained from the seed of a species of cardamoms indigenous to-
(German) East Africa from which Schimmel & Co. obtained 45 per
cent, of a colourless oil possessing the following characters: d\& 09017 ;.
ao - 16° 50'; %D2o° 146911; acid value 04 ; ester value 42 ; soluble in
6 volumes of 80 per cent, alcohol. So far as aroma is concerned it
cannot compare with Ceylon cardamom oil, and owing to its high
cineol-content it resembles cajuput oil. Unfortunately, the quantity
of oil was too small to enable its composition to be determined with
any exactitude. Botanical examination of the entire fruit showed that
the seed was derived from Aframomum angustifolium K. Schum., a
plant which occurs also in Madagascar and in the Seychelles Islands.

The wild cardamoms of Indo-China, derived from Amomum globo-
rum, yield about 4 per cent, of essential oil having the following char-
acters :—
Specific gravity 0-9455
Optical rotation.+ 43° 54'
Refractive index. 1-4714
Acid value .... 0

• 8
  Ester „ 128-4
  The oil probably contains camphor.
  The leaves, roots, and stalks of Amomum Walang (Ackasma Walang)-
  yield essential oils, wrhich have been examined.
  1
  They have the fol-
  lowing characters:—

Specific Gravity at 16°

Optical Rotation.

Acid Value.

Saponification Value.

Sap. Value after Acetylation

Aldehyde-content (Sulphite Method)

Oil-yield from Green Material

Oil from Leaves.

0-850

- 0

°

34'

10-1

70

97 per cent.

0-25 „

Oil from

Stalks.

0-860

- 0° 58'

26

75-6

285-6

96 p. cent.

0*2

Oil from

Roots.

0-856

- 0° 30'

18-9

70

285-6

96 p. cent.

0-15 „

OIL OF TURMERIC.

Turmeric oil is distilled from the roots of Curcuma longa, one of the-

Zingiberaceae indigenous to India, and cultivated also in China and

Southern Asia, etc. The oil, which is not of commercial importance,.

is obtained to the extent of about 5 per cent, as a thick yellow oil having

the following characters :—

(^1) Jaarb. dep. Landh. Ned. Ind. Batavia (1911), 45,