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Home , Camphor, Menthol, Thymol

, AND IN : CHOPRA & MUKHERJEE 361

' sweetmeats, in pan supari' ( leaf) mix- Articles tures, etc. The ajowan plant has, therefore, Original been grown to a greater or lesser extent all /over India. It is particularly abundant in Bengal, Central India (Indore) and Hyderabad THYMOL, MENTHOL AND CAMPHOrf (Deccan). 7,000 to 8,000 acres of land FROM INDIAN SOURCES Nearly are under cultivation each year in the Nizam's By R. N. CHOPRA, m.a., m.d. (Cantab.) Dominions alone and similar large areas are LIEUTENANT-COLONEL, I.M.S. also stated to be under cultivation in the and the United Provinces. i and Punjab Large quantities also find their way into India through B. m.b. MUKHERJEE, (Cal.) the inland routes from Afghanistan, Baluchistan Indigenous Drugs Enquiry, I. R. F. A., Series No. 35 and Persia. It can in fact be grown in any of the Indian Peninsula and the (From the Department of Pharmacology, School of part country Tropical Medicine, Calcutta) has possibilities of being a rich source of raw material for the of Indeed Thymol, menthol and camphor are well production thymol. this source has been the known in the materia medica of western already exploited by manufacturers as will be seen from the medicine as well as in that of the foreign indigenous of seeds from India between medicine in India. Thymol has been considered quantities exported 1911 and 1918 :? important on account of its powerful , Value of germicidal and anthelmintic properties. One T otal the quantity seed of its chief uses in recent years has been in the in cwts. exported exported in ? treatment of hookworm disease. It is also sterling. used as a constituent of largely tooth-pastes 1911-12 15,515 4,583 as a skin and mouth-washes and 1912-13 21,650 6,135 in dermatological practice. Menthol is exten- 1913-14 9,784 2,983 sively employed in , spraying lotions 1914-15 7,368 2,736 1915-16 13,062 and in dental is one of the 4,871 practice. Camphor 1916-17 11,093 4,304 commonest remedies and is used in almost 1917-18 3,990 2,765 every household in India for a variety of pur- 1918-19 1,917 2,102 poses. The huge demand for these stearoptenes can, therefore, be easily understood. Large Besides this, Cuminum cyminum may also quantities of these drugs are imported from serve as a subsidiary source of thymol. foreign countries. It will, therefore, be inter- Cuminum cyminum is abundantly cultivated esting to examine the indigenous sources from all over India, particularly in the United Pro- which these drugs can be produced and the vinces and the Punjab as a field or garden crop possibilities of their manufacture in India on a and is exported in large quantities to Ceylon, commercial scale. the Straits Settlements and British East Africa. It contains 3 to 3.5 per cent, of oil whose Thymol chief constituent is cumic or cuminic aldehyde in It is well known that thymol is contained which can be converted artificially into thymol. a number of essential oils occurring in many Irom Carum copticum.?It is common Thymol 1 ' plants distributed all over the world. The most knowledge that ajowan seeds have been dis- important source is the Spanish , tilled in India by crude methods for centuries Thymus vulgaris or , a small, and the impure thymol produced, known as ' evergreen shrub belonging to the Labiatse ajowan-ka-phul', has been used in the indi- family. It is indigenous in Spain, Portugal, genous medicine. The seeds distilled with water ' France and Italy and is also extensively culti- produce ajowan-ka-arak' which is well known vated in other parts of Europe and America, as a medicine to the people. It was, however, especially in Germany and in New York State. only as a result of the cutting off of foreign in Thymol also occurs in varying proportions supplies of thymol during the war, and the oils from punctata (American horse- stoppage of the export of seeds from India later, mint), Carum copticum (Indian ajowan), that definite attempts were made to manufac- Ocimum viride (the mosquito plant of West ture the article on a commercial scale. Africa), Ocimum gratissimum (Seychelles), Ajowan seeds from various sources in India Cunila mariana (North America), Mosla jjapo- have been examined for their oil contents. The which nica (Japan), etc. The chief source from seeds from different parts of the country yielded thymol can be produced in India is Carum varying proportions of oil ranging from 2.0 to as copticum. The seeds of this plant, known 3.5 per cent. Seeds obtained from the Kurnool- ' ajowan' seeds, have been used in the indi- Guntakal district of Madras Presidency genous medicine in the treatment of atonic appeared to be the beat variety obtainable in dyspepsia, diarrhoea, colic, flatulence, indigestion India. These seeds were thicker than the The aromatic seeds are exten- and . ordinary seeds and were of a yellow colour and as a in to flavour sively used condiment curries, gave a high yield of oil, i.e., 3.5 per cont. The 362 THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE [July, 1932 seeds obtained from Northern India yielded of the seeds, however, are grown in India and only 2.07 per cent, of the oil, and the percentage as the export is completely stopped they will of thymol in most of the Indian oils is not have to be utilised or the cultivation will cease. more than 33 to 37 per cent. This is low as Some workers have shown that thymol manu- compared with the yield obtained from the facture in India should not be a failure if the Spanish thyme which is the chief competitor of by-products, e.g., spent seeds, omum water, ' ' the ajowan seeds. Besides this, Carum copti- thymene oil, etc., could be utilised. The spent cum grown in other parts of the world appears seeds contain 15 to 17 per cent, of protein and to give a larger yield of oil. A sample of seeds 25 to 32 per cent, of fat and can easily replace from the Seychelles gave on analysis 9 per ordinary oil-cakes in the fodder of cattle. The cent, and from Montserrat 3.1 per cent, of oil, omum water is already in extensive use as a containing 39 and 54 per cent, of thymol res- carminative, stomachic and stimulant. Thy- pectively. mene oil can be utilised in scenting cheap It would appear from this that the production soaps though it is never likely to be in great of thymol from raw materials at present avail- demand for such a purpose. Moreover better able in India would not be commercially a methods of cultivation are likely to improve successful proposition. Experiments conducted the yield of the oil. If this is done it is pos- in Hyderabad by the Department of Industries sible that with cheap labour and other factors and Commerce of the Nizam's Government present in this country, the production of thymol showed that the maximum yield of the oil was from distillation of ajowan seeds could be not more than 2 per cent, of the weight of the made economically successful. In addition to seeds and the yield of thymol crystals not more ajowan seeds, it will probably be worth while the of than 36.97 per cent, of the weight of the oil. considering possibility manufacture of With these results it does not appear to be. thymol from the , piperitone, in this likely that the manufacture, on a commercial country. grow very well in scale, of thymol will be successful. Manufac- many parts of India and is ture of the drug was actually taken up by the already being produced on a commercial scale. Gwalior and the Dhar States. The figures Large tracts of country are available for culti- for yield of the oil and thymol on a large scale vation of eucalyptus, and piperitone could be in Gwalior State are given in the following produced on a large scale. Its conversion into table :? thymol ought not to involve a large outlay of Quantity of Yield of oil Yield of crude capital. The whole question of manufacture fruit in lbs. in lbs. thymol in lbs. needs careful study by experts but, from the 26,076 742.5 321.2 data we have at our disposal, the position 22,227 652.5 269.1 appears to be hopeful. 32,380 943.7 370.5

A perusal of the table will show that the Menthol yield of crude thymol is not very high. The Menthol is obtained chiefly from manufacture in Dhar State appears not to have piperita or the marsh mint which grows ex- been a commercial success and has been dis- tensively in the British Isles and in the United continued. States of America. Though M. piperita does Commercial aspects of thymol production.? not grow in India, a number of other species Previous to 1914 thymol was chiefly produced of mentha grow quite well. Examples of these from natural sources. With the discovery of are Mentha viridis (), M. incana cheap methods of synthesis large quantities of (), M. sativa, M. aquatica and the drug are being synthetised. Several M. arvensis. All these varieties, excepting methods have been devised in Germany, M. arvensis, occur as garden plants and are America and England for manufacturing the sparingly distributed at present. M. arvensis article from crude . Metacresol from grows very abundantly in the northern and which thymol can be manufactured is a very western Himalayas in a state of nature. It is cheap product and consequently synthetic found in Kashmir at an altitude of 5,000 to thymol has been offered at a very low 10,000 feet. The drug does not appear to have ' price. Besides this, the ketone, piperitonea sub- attracted the attention of the ancient Hindu stance which can be produced in large quantities physicians though it is now extensively used and at a low cost from the Australian eucalyp- as a household remedy throughout India for tus, can also be readily converted into thymol. its stimulant and carminative properties. Mint With the advent of synthetic thymol the is also largely used in flavouring foods. natural product is being completely displaced. In view of the abundance and the easy Even in Spain, cultivation of thyme is gradually availability of M. arvensis in India, experi- being looked on with disfavour and small ments were conducted at the Calcutta School farmers in many localities have discontinued of Tropical Medicine to see how the essential, its cultivation. The prospects of thymol pro- oil derived from M. arvensis compares with the duction from the Indian ajowan seeds are not, peppermint oil of commerce. The therefore, bright at present. Large quantities obtained on distillation of the from THYMOL, MENTHOL AND CAMPHOR IN INDIA : CHOPRA & MUKHERJEE 363

Kashmir was found to have the same odour, therefore, no reason why this industry should and other physical characters as the not be successfully developed. The methods of peppermint oil used in the British Pharma- planting, cultivating, harvesting and distilling copoeia, and crystals of menthol could be easily have been worked out through years of trial obtained from it on keeping for some time. and experiment in many countries and could be The yield of oil was 0.18 to 0.2 per cent, which easily taken advantage of in India. be considered when com- may quite satisfactory M. arvensis grows luxuriantly in a state of pared with some of the specimens of peppermint nature in the forests of the northern Himalayas under some grown ideal conditions in of the (Kashmir). If the Forest Department con- farms in America. experimental centrate their attention on these areas, protect Place Yield of oil them from grazing and encourage its growth, of the raw material for the Arlington farm (America) 0.12?0.13 per cent. large quantities Webster, South Dakota (America) 0.10 distillation of the oil could be made available Glendale (America) 0.11 at a small cost. Cultivation of M. arvensis in suitable areas could also be carried out on a It is likely that if distillation is carried on commercial scale without and without with specimens of fresh herb, a higher percentage difficulty much as has been done the of the oil may be obtained than that from the expense, by dry herb collected in Kashmir and examined Kashmir Government in the case of

States which in 1923 was 102,507 lbs., in 1924 camphora, the important cam- was 159,729 lbs. and in 1925 was 127,218 lbs. phor-yielding , does not grow in India. Several varieties of B. balsami- Both Japan and the United States derive a Blumeas, e.g., B. large profit from the sale of peppermint oil and fera, lacera, B. densiflora, B. malcomii, B. of a menthol. England, France, Italy and Germany grandis, etc., capable yielding fairly of luxu- also possess flourishing industries in mint oil. good quality camphor, however, grow in the to Australia recently has been experimenting riantly Himalayas from Nepal Sikkim as well as in western somewhat extensively in the production of oil the part of the Deccan at an altitude of to feet. of peppermint and the published reports indicate plateau 1,700 2,500 B. and B. are the two very favourable results. Within the last few balsamifera densiflora varieties which deserve mention. years, cultivation of peppermint has been taken special B. is a small found in up in Roumania on an scale and densiflora bushy plant experimental various of it is said that the experiment has succeeded parts Assam, the Khasia hills, and other remarkably. In view of the large natural Chittagong, places. B. balsamijera in Burma and to resources existing in India and in view of the grows abundantly according Mason this is so abundant that Burma fact that the average price for peppermint oil plant half the world with is steadily on the increase, it may be worth might supply camphor. Wherever trees are cut this weed while for this country to develop this industry. down, springs up and often to the exclusion of almost every- menthol.?The of com- Synthetic possibility thing else. Dymock drew attention to another of the natural article with the petition synthetic camphoraceous Blumea commonly growing near now in the market should menthol placed not, Bombay and used by the people. In addition be lost of. Menthol can be however, sight to the species of Blumea, there are many other such as easily synthesised by reducing plants in India which smell strongly of camphor, and , piperitone. Piperitone some of which would probably yield camphor. is contained in oil and to a certain eucalyptus The common aquatic weed of the of oil in plains extent in the dementholised produced Bengal, Limnophila gratioloides, the Karpur of and can be converted into men- Japan easily the Bengalis, is an example. thone in its can be which, turn, changed by In the latter of the 19th efforts into menthol. part century, catalytic Pulegone were first made to is the ingredient of pennyroyal oil grow camphor-yielding plants principal in India. The camphor trees of and (Mentha puiegium) and will be found to a ' ' ' ' Sumatra, from which Baros or Barus noticeable degree in the Japanese peppermint camphor is derived, and a number of other herb. Like piperitone, this can be changed into plants belonging to the natural order Diptero- menthone. occurs in- quan- large were first tried. In the of the tities in citronella oil obtained from citronella carpece report Lucknow Horticultural Gardens for it nardus of Java and 1882-83, grass (Cymbopogon Ceylon) is mentioned that trees which and can also be used in the of camphoraceous preparation were cultivated there had done well. menthol. These materials are available at a being Gradually, however, the cultivation of these very low menthol price and, therefore, synthetic trees was discontinued and can be sold in the market at a rate which leaves camphor-bearing attention was directed towards the most prolific very little profit for the mint growers. camphor tree of Japan and Formosa, the has been Synthetic menthol sold in India : These trees were of the examined in the chemical department later on grown successfully in a number of In Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine. localities in India. At one time they are said appearance and odour the synthetic product is to have flourished in Nepal and Tipperah, very similar to the natural menthol. It has a between Bengal and the Upper Irrawady. In of 35?C. and is lsevo-rotatory. Ceylon the tree grows well at elevations of Tests have further shown that the synthetic 5,000 feet and less. There is a fine avenue of product is slightly more active physiologically trees in Dehra Dun and in the Botanic gardens but less toxic than the natural product. As at Calcutta and Saharanpur. Experimental culti- matters stand at present, it is not possible to vation in the Nilgiris has shown that the trees forecast the possibilities of the natural menthol do well even up to 7,000 feet above the sea level. The rate at which- the industry. synthetic C. camphora has been grown in many parts of article is being produced and boomed in the Burma particularly in the Maymyo and Bhamo market augurs very unfavourably for the districts. In the Southern Shan States, notably natural For her internal how- product. needs, at Lawksawk, a plantation of 650 acres still ever, India could easily utilise her large natural exists at an altitude of 3,500 feet. resources. Camphor content of the camphor tree grown in India.?The proportion of camphor and other Camphor constituents found in the trees depends upon Camphor from Indian sources.?Unlike the climatic conditions and locality to a very thymol and menthol, India's natural resources large extent as will be seen from the fact that trees in for producing camphor are rather poor. camphor grown Mauritius and known THYMOL, MENTHOL AND CAMPHOR IN INDIA : CHOPRA & MUKHERJEE 365

to be the genuine variety do not yield camphor camphor has slightly increased from 11 lakhs at all. The trees growing in India fortunately to 12 lakhs. If, therefore, camphor could be are much better and yield fairly large propor- successfully produced in India, it will be of tions of camphor, though not to the same extent some economic importance. Camphor cultiva- as is found in trees growing in Formosa anc tion has been zealously conducted in the United Japan. This will be appreciated from a com- States of America and after years of failure the parison of the following tables showing the oil Americans have, it is understood, attained a fair content of the Indian tree with the Japanese amount of success. In Indo-China, Sumatra, tree :? Java, and Italy camphor trees have been suc- grown. In Algeria, considerable Oil and content cessfully camphor of different parts of the has been made. has been able Indian camphor tree progress Japan to increase her camphor production in 1930 to in the methods Descrip- Total chiefly owing improvements Place of If methods tion of volatile Camphor, Camphor of manufacturing. these improved growth oil, material oil yield, per cent. are in per cent. adopted India, camphor production per cent. sufficient at least to meet the internal demands of the country may be possible. Nilgiris Green 1.0 0.1?0.7 0.9?0.3 Synthetic camphor.?The exploitation and leaves. successful utilisation of the indigenous camphor Madras Do. 2.62 1.99 0.63 are faced with diffi- Burma Do. 1.51 1.03 0.48 resources, however, grave Cochin Do. 2.33 2.01 0.32 culties and there is every probability that, in Dehra Dun Do. 4.04 0.38 3.66 the near future, manufacture of camphor from Dehra Dun Young 4.83 0.59 4.24 vegetable sources may completely cease. With leaves. the of the science of Dehra Dun Twigs 0.34 rapid growth chemistry camphor has been successfully synthesised from the and this is Note.?Camphor oil is the residue left after camphor synthetic camphor sublimes over. gradually taking the place of camphor obtained from natural sources in the commercial world. Oil content of different parts of the Japanese Synthetic camphor is easily prepared and the camphor tree finished product may soon be offered for sale at .. 2.21 cent. Twigs per such a that of Branches 3.70 ? price growing camphor-contain- not be a To Stem 3.84 ? ing plants may paying proposition. .. an Stump 5.49 ? what alarming extent the synthetic camphor Root 4.46 is capturing the field may be estimated from amount of of the From the above, it will appear that the possi- the average production In and bilities of camphor cultivation on a large scale material in Germany alone. 1928 1929, returns showed an are not very promising. Extensive researches the trade average produc- carried out by Howard, Robertson and Simonsen tion of 6,000 to 7,000 metric tons a year of one metric tons (1923), however, show that, with proper care, which approximately half?3,049 it is possible to increase the oil content of the ?was exported to other countries in 1929. The plant. They calculate that with 900 bushes fate of the camphor industry, it would appear, is fast that of which was per acre planted 7 feet by 7 feet apart, the yield approaching indigo a but has been per acre per annum is 100 lbs. of camphor oil formerly very thriving industry giving 43 lbs. of camphor. At least 50 inches blotted out of existence by the production of and As of rain in the growing season is required by the aniline dyes synthetic indigo. things camphor trees and intending cultivators should are at present though synthetic camphor is choose Southern India where the annual rainfall capturing the markets, Formosa still supplies 70 cent, of is 40 inches or more. If these points are about per the world's requirements but the soon attended to, there is every reason to hope for position may change completely. better prospects than have hitherto attended camphor cultivation. References Economic of cam- aspects.?The importance Chopra, R. N., and Chandler, A. C. (1928). phor lies in the fact that it is one of the con- Anthelmintics cind their Uses in Medical and Veterinary stituents of celluloid and allied products. Practice. London: Bailliere, Tindall & Cox. Chopra, R. N., Ghosh, N. N., and 70 per cent, of the total of cam- Ratnagiriswaran, Nearly output A. N. (1929). Some growing in the is in their 15 phor employed manufacture, per Himalayas. Indian Joui-n. Med. Res., Vol. XVI, p. 770. cent, is used for disinfecting and deodorising Howard, H., Robertson, W., and Simonsen, J. L. (1923). Notes on Some Forest purposes, and 13 per cent, for medicinal pur- Essential Oils. Indian Records, Vol. IX. poses. is in large Camphor imported very Inuganti, M., Bhate, and Habib S. (1924). in H., Hasan, quantities India. According to the report Production of Thymol from Ajowan. Bull. Dept. of of the Senior Trade Commissioner with the Industries_ and Commerce. Nizam Govt. Publication. Government, during six months ending in Lakhani, K., Sudborough, J. J., and Watson, H. E. (1921). Manufacture of from Indian trade in has Thymol Ajowan. September 1931, though general Inst. Sci., Vol. IV, p. 59. a the of undergone marked depression, import Schimmel & Co. (1928). Annual Report, p 118.