Common Name:

General Information

Jasminum niloticum is a climbing shrub.
The flowers are gathered from the wild and used to make an essential oil that is used locally and traded.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical east Africa - Uganda.

Habitat

Not known

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Climber
Height	0.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Members of this genus generally succeed in full sun or partial shade, preferring a fertile, humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil[].
Jasmine flowers are picked manually between dawn and 10 a.m., during the hot season in India even between 3 - 8 a.m. Preferably only half-opened and fresh fully opened flowers must be picked, not buds or old (yellowish) flowers, as these will depress the quality of the essential oil. Although rain makes the flowers almost useless, picking flowers in the rain should continue, to promote further flowering[].
An experienced picker can harvest 0.5 kg flowers per hour, but the pickers are usually young women and children, who achieve 2 kg in 5 hours[].
Jasmine flowers must be quickly processed, since delay substantially reduces essential oil content. Flowers should be kept shaded and cool between picking and processing and the processing facility should be close to the plantation. Freshly picked flowers can be stored in polythene bags at 15°c without loss of yield, quality or odour[].
Jasmine oil can be obtained from flowers by steam distillation but the yield is very low. Jasmine concrete is obtained from flowers, formerly by enfleurage, currently by solvent extraction. In solvent extraction, flowers are washed up to 3 times with petroleum ether or, preferably, with hydrocarbon-free food-grade hexane; the extract is then distilled to remove the solvent, resulting in the concrete. Concrete is usually produced at the plantation, but absolute is produced where convenient, often in another country[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

An essential oil is obtained from the flowers[]. It is used as a perfume[].

Propagation

Seed - it does not require pre-treatment and is best sown in a partially shaded position as soon as it is ripe[].
Cuttings 12 - 20cm long should be taken from terminal shoots; treatment with a root stimulator increases the strike rate[].
Semi-ripe cuttings, 8cm long, places in a sandy medium, usually root within 4 weeks[].
Cuttings taken from shoot tips have given better results than semi-ripe cuttings. They are usually treated with a fungicide, placed in prepared planting holes and watered[].
Layering in the field is done with one-year-old shoots; a slanting cut is made approximately half-way through the shoot some 50cm from the end; the cut is buried about 10 - 15cm deep with the top remaining above ground. After about 4 - 6 months the rooted layers can be separated from the parent plant and transplanted[].

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