306 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS Birch, Mostyn and Penfold (23) investigated the cause of the low specific gravities occasionally experienced in Western Australian sandal- wood oils (Eucarya spicata Sprague & Suture.). Such oils were found to contain considerable percentages of farnesol. The structure of angustifolionol, a yellow crystalline substance (m.p. 118 ø) isolated by Penfold from the essential oil of Backhousia angustifolia Benth. has been studied by Birch, Elliott and Penfold (21) angustifolionol is actually 5-hydroxy-7-methoxy-2,6,8-trimethylbenzochromone. In the same paper these authors also discuss the biogeneric significance of this compound. Baeckea critriodora, a new species of the fam. Myrtaceae, was recently de- scribed by Penfold and Willis (125). The essential oil occurs in the leaves to the extent of 0.33 to 0.74 per cent. Penfold, et al. (115), found it to con- sist principally of (+)-citronellal (54 to 80 per cent). Minor constituents are isopulegol, (+)-a-pinene, citronellol and small amounts of esters. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ESSENTIAL OIL PRODUCTION ztrgentina Although Argentina is a country highly favored by nature from the agricultural point of view, its essential oil industry has remained relatively small and confined to the supply of the domestic market. At the present time Argentina produces per year approximately 80,000 pounds of pep- permint oil (Mentha piperita) (172), 50,000 pounds of mint oil Japanese type (Mentha arvensis), 30,000 pounds of lemongrass oil, 20,000 pounds of citronella oil, 25,000 pounds of lavandin oil, 25,000 pounds of anethole (isolated from fennel oil), 30,000 pounds of eucalyptus oil (Eucalyptus globuIus), from 5000 to 80,000 pounds of guaiac wood oil (the quantity varying greatly and depending upon the demand from abroad), 30,000 to 40,000 pounds of sweet orange oil, and increasing quantities of lemon oil (actual figures are not available). Undoubtedly, as the population of Argentina increases, production of essential oils will expand to meet the domestic requirements. There is a good possibility that in the future some oils will also be exported. Brazil As in most other agricultural activities, Brazil offers possibilities also in essential oil production, although they have not yet aroused much in- terest among landowners. The reason is simply that other and much bet- ter understood crops (coffee, cocoa, tobacco, cotton, cereals, sugar, etc.) promise larger, easier and safer returns than essential oils, which require a great deal of experience, know-how in distillation, etc. Moreover, agri- cultural labor in Brazil is no longer abundant and low priced, and in the

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ESSENTIAL OILS 307 case of quite a number of essential oils, Brazil could not possibly compete with those produced in the Far East as primitive cottage industries. Nevertheless, a great deal of progress has been made lately in Brazil and today the country produces a number of essential oils, some in large quantities, from wild-growing trees and from cultivated plants as well. The recent developments have been stimulated by a few pioneers, out- standing among them Joao Dietberger in Sao Paulo. The bulk of the oils is exported some are absorbed eagerly and at high prices by the rapidly growing domestic industries of consumers' goods, inflation and exchange restrictions not permitting imports from abroad. The following oils are now chiefly exported: Total Production in 1955 Oil Bols de Rose ................................... Almost 1,000,000 lb. Oil Ocotea cymbarum (Brazilian Sassafras Oil) .......... Almost 1,750,000 lb. Oil Mint (Mentha arvensis) Dementholized .................................. Almost 300,000 lb. Menthol Cryst ................................... Almost 265,000 lb. Among the newly developed oils, used mostly by the domestic indus- tries, are: Total Production in 1955 Oil Eucalyptus citriodora .......... About 150,000 lb. Oil Eucalyptus globulus ........... About 13,000 lb. Oil Sweet Orange ................ About 15,000 lb. Oil Lemon ...................... About 7,000 lb. Oil Vetiver ...................... About 1,100 lb. Oil Lemongrass .................. About 5,000 lb. Oil Citronella ................... Lost by frost Oil Palmarosa ................... About 1,700 lb. Oil Ocimum gratissimum .......... About 2,000 lb. Estimated Production for 1956 165,000 lb. 40,000 lb. Increased quantity (?) Increased quantity (?) 1,200 lb. 35,000 lb. 4,500 lb. 4,500 lb. 4,500 lb. Of particular interest among these oils is Ocimum gratissimum (ram. Labiatae), Eugenol Type. Belonging to the mint family, this plant can be cultivated and harvested like any mint the yield of oil varies between 88 and 132 pounds per acre per year. Principal constituent of the oil is eugenol, which can be isolated and used as substitute for the eugenol de- rived from clove oils. Recently Jogo Dierberger and his associates suc- ceeded in developing, by plant selection, a strain of Ocimum gradssirnum giving a higher yield of oil (0.5 per cent instead of 0.3 to 0.4: per cent), the oil containing as much as 74: per cent of eugenol. This type is now being planted on a large scale, with the first harvest expected in 1957. Growers even hope to be able to produce so much oil of Ocimum gratis- sireurn that some day vanillin can be manufacturered from the eugenol isolated from this oil. At the present time Brazil has to import 20 to 25 metric tons of vanillin per year.