Process Description

Cleaning:
After harvest, the pomelos are washed to remove dirt. During washing, handle gently to avoid strong impacts, then drain at room temperature.

Peeling and Collecting the Green Peel:
The fruit is separated into pulp and peel. The white part of the peel is removed to collect the green peel containing essential oils. During cutting, care is taken to avoid crushing the oil glands in the peel.

Grinding:
The pomelo peel is ground with water at a peel-to-water ratio of 1:3 (g/mL).

Distillation:
Transfer the mixture into the distillation apparatus, set the temperature to 130°C. Distill for about 140 minutes (timing starts when the first drops of distillate are collected).

Recovery:
All crude essential oil is collected and stored in dark bottles to protect from light and limit oxidation.

Drying:
Add sodium sulfate (Na₂SO₄) to the crude oil and stir until the mixture separates into two layers: essential oil and water.

Packaging and Final Product:
The essential oil is stored in dark bottles.

The essential oil production process helps utilize agricultural by-products to create economically valuable products. In addition, it helps address rural labor issues by creating jobs locally. Utilizing these by-products also helps reduce environmental pollution caused by agricultural production.