What to expect
My interview guest for this episode is Karen Swanepoel, executive director of the South African Essential Oil Producers Association, botanist, lecturer, researcher and expert on essential oils and vegetable oils in South Africa.
In this interview we discuss:
– How the three Pelargonium species P. graveolens, P. capitatum and P. radens give traits to the P. var rosé hybrid for essential oil production
– Why none of the species alone would be able to provide the essential oil
– Which factors influence the chemical composition of the oil in the plant
– For what purpose the plant produces the oil
– How the oil is extracted and the process is further optimized for energy and resource efficiency
– What the rose geranium essential oil production means for South Africa’s socio-economy
Have you listened to our other Pelargonium episodes yet? You can all find them here on our blog. Join the Flora-L community newsletter to receive updates when we release new episodes. You can also find and subscribe to the Flora and Friends podcast on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast and Deezer or listen to it here below.
Give feedback to our podcast and win an apron
This 6th episode on Pelargoniums used for Rose Geranium oil production concludes our mini-series. And before launching our next series we would love to hear what you have thought. Head over to our short survey (takes less than 5 min) and answer the questions. If you want to enter the lottery to win one of our linen aprons provide your email address in the last question. To participate in the lottery, fill in the survey by May 5th 2021.
A new Pelargonium pattern released
Have you seen our new released Pelargonium pattern yet? It features cells in a Pelargonium flower stem. We have selected a monochromatic scale for this one. The original microcopy image shows a cross-section through the Pelargonium flower stem. It was stained with Fast Green.
Pelargonium souvenirs
This is the second Pelargonium pattern that we are releasing to celebrate our podcast series also in a visual way. The pattern is available in our Society6 print on demand shop. Get your cup, notebook, cushion etc. with pelargonium prints to match the pelargonium on your windowsill. If you want to see the other Pelargonium pattern that we have released, click here and scroll to the end of the page.
