Abstract

Guinea is a coastal state in West Africa consisting of four natural regions with a diversity of climatic and ecological conditions that has given it a rich and varied flora. The potential for producing essential oils with commercial potential is, therefore, significant and during preliminary studies, a list of 35 plants that are currently the most interesting from this perspective was compiled. This project will study four plants of the Ocimum genus chosen for their scientific interest and commercial potential. It will determine the optimal conditions for the vegetative development of these plants and the production of essential oils from them. An inexpensive still will be developed locally as part of this project. The cultivation of these plants will provide the rural population with an additional source of income, while the distillation of essential oils will create new job opportunities.

Post-Project Summary

This summary is based on the final report of the Centre de Recherche Industrielle du Québec (CRIQ). During the first year of the project, researchers prepared and supervised a 7-week training program for the senior researcher from Guinea, Malo Nianga. They conducted vapour-phase chromatography analyses together with mass spectroscopy of 125 samples of essential oils from Guinea, and also performed infrared analysis on some of these oils. They interpreted and compiled the data collected from previous analyses. The plants were classified first by species, then by region, and by chemical composition. The four chemotypes grown for Ocimum basilicum were those in which methyl chavicole, linacool, methyl cinnamate and camphor predominated. The CRIQ researchers accompanied Mr Nianga on visits to laboratories at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi and those of Agriculture Canada at St. Jean sur Richelieu. A CRIQ technician installed at vapour-phase chromatograph at the Université de Conakry. During the second year of the project, the CRIQ researchers organized a second training program for Mr Nianga, lasting 8 weeks. During this program he visited small extraction units in Quebec, met with specialists on pressure units and welding techniques, observed the construction of a 120-litre pilot extraction unit, and familiarized himself with the equipment. With the help of a CRIQ technician, he performed about a dozen extractions on dried plants. Mr Nianga also took advantage of his second visit to improve his knowledge of vapour-phase chromatography analysis by analyzing about 40 samples of essential oils from Ocimum basilicum and Ocimum viridae from various regions of Guinea. The third and fourth years of the project saw the analysis of 20 and 18 samples, respectively, of essential oils from Guinea. During his stays in Canada, Mr. Nianga participated in two conferences where he gave papers on the project results: "Deriving Natural Products from Plant Biomass," held at the Université du Québec on 22-25 August 1993, and "Third Conference on Natural Products of Plant Origin", held in Ste-Jean-sur-Richelieu in October 1995.

Recipient Institution(s)