Ever since I rescued George from a severe mauling by another male red legged partridge intent upon taking over his patch in the garden, he and Mildred have taken to roosting at night outside our bedroom window - I presume that he seeks around-the-clock security! However, much as I am flattered by his faith in my protection, his early morning chuntering can be quite a bind. This morning it starts at 5.04 a.m., which prompts an immediate cacophonous reply from Birdie, Larry and the Blues Boys. Normally quite restrained in the company of humans, my parrots respond to outside “bird-speak” with surprising vigour. Startled, George loses his footing and flops from the roof. Hearing no respose to their cackle, the parrots sense victory and commence to tuck in heartily to their breakfast muesli.

Their brand of choice is called Fruity Parrot which, believe it or not, looks more appetizing than the human equivalent. Still, were I to try it, I think that I would dispense with the hot red chillies that are liberally scattered in the mix. These, however, are Larry’s particular favourite. With relish, he pecks into them voraciously. All of which gets me around to thinking, doesn’t he find them hot? Also, why are some chillies hot anyway?

Capsaicinoids combat fungi.
The intention of fleshy fruits is to attract animals that will disperse their seeds, but they are equally alluring to less welcome organisms. As far as chillies are concerned, probing insects pierce the skin and feed on the pulp, but the danger to the chilli comes not from the insects but from Fusarium, a microscopic fungus that enters the wounds and destroys seeds before they can be dispersed. The active constituents of Fusarium spp. are termed trichothecenes, of which about 27 have been reported.  Some consider that Fusarium tricinctum was the probable fungal food contaminant causing ‘putrid malignant fever’, a great child-killer of the early eighteenth century. These compounds also achieved notoriety as alleged agents of chemical warfare (‘yellow rain’). Capsaicinoids, which give a chilli its heat, are known to have anti-microbial properties, but up to now there has been no hard evidence that they evolved as a defence against fungi.

That evidence comes from a study of Capsicum chacoense, a species that grows in Bolivia. As Joshua Tewksbury and colleagues of the University of Washington had previously discovered, the fruits of this species are very variable - some have high concentrations of capsaicinoids and are wildly hot, while others have scarcely any and are mild. Plants with hot peppers and plants with mild grow side by side, but the proportion of hot to mild varies from one population to the other. In regions where the frequency of insect attack is high, increasing the risk of fungi reaching the seeds, plants with hot peppers far outnumber those with mild ones. In low-risk areas, more plants have mild peppers. In high-risk areas, insects pierced and prodded both the hot and mild peppers, but the mild ones suffered more severe damage from Fusarium [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 105, p. 11,808]. Later laboratory experiments confirmed that high concentrations of capsaicinoids do dramatically slow Fusarium.

These results provide compelling evidence that a chilli’s heat evolved to fight off fungi. Fortunately, the extra heat doesn’t put off the birds that disperse chilli seeds, as birds lack receptors for capsaicinoids and so don’t feel the pain and continue to eat peppers, says Tewksbury.

Conflicting views!
As it’s free, and costs have to be considered, the Newsletter was never designed to be anything more than it is but, that said, I always welcome the views of others, invited or otherwise. In any event, no one is obliged to read it, and obviously some don’t, except perhaps the Special Offers!

Lucy Ingham emails: I have been in receipt of your newsletter for some time now. Unfortunately I never read it. I’m afraid I take one look at all that same boring text and just can’t face it [I don’t think that would go down too well with some old school tutors]. Why not get someone with some Desktop Publishing skills to make it more dynamic. Newspapers and glossy magazines are perfect for getting ideas [True, but many are facing dwindling sales and diminished advertising revenue whilst my favourite read, the FT, is increasing circulation. I sense the World is becoming a more serious place].

Add a couple of pictures or simple illustrations. It will really improve the whole look of the finished product. Take a leaf out of some really pro leaflets and brochures. It might cost a little more to add some colour, but in all the years I’ve been receiving it I’ve never been tempted to read it [I won’t say that I have never considered it but, as you observe correctly, it is all a matter of cost].
I did a DTP course at College [Aha!] and showed one to my Tutor who took one look at it and said she could not read it. It should be a pleasure to the eyes. Sorry to be critical but it’s crying out for love and attention, colour, light and shade. Some character, some personality, if that makes sense [As a publisher of several full-colour titles in the past, I do know a little about colour, light and shade, but I am surprised that more than 17 years and 750,000 words does not reflect some love and attention. As for character and personality, you’ll just have to read it sometime!].

As I cogitated Lucy’s view, I received the following email from Jessie Ellis in Wrexham. I have always looked forward to the newsletter, but the last one I got was for January 2009. So I wondered if I had missed an announcement about perhaps a new format. I decided to look on your Web site. I have completed two short courses on Web page design so can comment from a little knowledge and use.

What a wonderful site, no glitz, just plain information, and exactly as the newsletter was [still is]. It is extremely easy to find your way around. All you could want is there. It is so refreshing to find that you know what a Web site should be for, the reader, not competing for a Sony award or the like [Obviously my kind of reader!].

A bit about Beet.
Thanks for the info on asparagus - a friend of mine has cancer and gout (the latter he thinks caused by excess raw beetroot which he eats by the wagonload, to hold the cancer in check...), emailed Tim Morgan.

Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris) is native to South Europe and is extensively grown for food, especially for the production of sugar, but it presents many varieties.

It is derived from Sea Beet (B. vulgaris L. subsp. maritima (L.) Arc.), that grows wild on the coasts of Europe, North Africa and Asia, as far as India, and is found in muddy maritime marshes, a tall, succulent plant, about 60cm high, with large, fleshy, glossy leaves, angular stems and numerous leafy spikes of green flowers.

The lower leaves when boiled, are quite equal in taste to that of spinach  (Spinacea oleracea), and the leaf-stalks and midrib of a cultivated form, the Spinach Beet (B. vulgaris subsp. cicla), are stewed, under the name of Chard. This white-rooted beet is also cultivated for its leaves. Its root, though containing almost as much sugar as the red Garden Beet (which is more commonly called Beetroot), neither looks so appetizing or tastes so well.

Another variety of subsp. vulgaris is the Mangel-Wurzel, or Mangold, which, too coarse for human consumption, is good for cattle, who thrive excellently on this diet, both its leaves and roots affording an abundance of valuable and nutritious food.

The principal nutrients in beets are Vitamin B and C, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. All varieties are biennial with sugar reserves in the root, those of sugar beet up to 20% of the weight. This sugar is softer than cane sugar, but does not crystallise as well. There is a treacle principle in it, which makes it all the more nutritious. Cane sugar has to be converted by the digestive juices into fruit sugar, before the body can absorb it, but the sugar in the beet root is already in the more easily assimilated form, thus making the beet a valuable food. In its uncultivated form, the root of the Sea Beet is, like the mangold, coarse and unfit for human food, but the garden beet, or beetroot, has been cultivated from very remote times as a salad plant and for general use as a vegetable. It was so appreciated by the ancients, that it is recorded that it was offered on silver to Apollo in his temple at Delphi.  
  
Because of the high sugar content, beetroot is highly energising; it also livens up the digestive system. The magnesium helps bone growth, while phosphorus and vitamin B have a sedative effect. Together, vitamins B and C are extremely effective in the teatment of neuritis, and I recollect that beetroot was highly recommended for anaemia when I was a child.

Beetroot juice is an oxygen catalyser believed to have anti-tumour effect, and I can remember visiting a clinic in Switzerland where patients were quaffing glasses of the almost arterial red liquor. High in iron content and silicic acids, it assists regeneration of red blood cells and also assists the liver to break-down stored fats and is of value for cellulite and other fat conditions. Because of beetroot’s reputed anti-cancerous properties, I think prompted by Hungarian research some years ago, several do eat quite substantial quantities of the vegetable: I understand that one kilo fresh vegetable is the recommended daily intake. However, as cooked beetroot loses a lot of its properties, particularly vitamin C, it is best eaten raw. Scrub and peel first, but beware of the juice which stains very easily. I wonder if Beetroot ‘Touchstone Gold’, which produces uniform, smooth roots with a golden centre, would be less hazardous for peeling, or does it perhaps not have the anti-cancerous properties?

For many years a group of plant pigments containing nitrogen had been known. These compounds were termed ‘nitrogenous anthocyanins’. After the initial isolation in crystalline form of one such compound in 1957, the structures of two groups of pigments have now been determined; these are betacyanins and betaxanthins, the former being red-violet in colour (betanin) and the latter yellow (indicaxanthin). These names were derived from a combination of Beta vulgaris (Red beetroot) and the anthocyanin and anthoxanthin pigments to which they were thought to be related.

It is the red betalains from beetroot that are used in herbal treatment of cancer, though 14% of the UK population cannot metabolize red betanin leading to beeturia (red urine). Could this also be a cause of gout?

A cedarwood oil of another type.
The so-called “Texas Cedar”, a member of the Cupressaceae, is a small to medium sized tree, growing up to 6 metres or so. As reflected in its former binomial Juniperus mexicana Schiede, it was also called Mexican Cedar. Today, it is better known in its native land as Ashe’s Juniper (Juniperus ashei J. Buchholz). In response to demand, we have taken some of the essential oil into stock recently. The tree’s trunk and branches are irregular in shape and usually crooked; hence the timber cannot be used for sawing into boards for cupboards, chests, and other furniture. Moreover, on exposure to the atmosphere the wood easily develops cracks.

The tree occurs in a wide range, from central and western Texas, through Mexico, as far south as Guatemala. It grows between an altitude of 250 and 750 metres, usually on rough and rocky limestone hills, though it prefers deep sand with a thin top soil. This type of land has little value, except for grazing cattle. Because of the poor soil and a dearth of rainfall, the trees grow very slowly, developing much heartwood and only little sapwood. This is a considerable advantage as regards distillation of the essential oil, which is contained in the heartwood only.

Sixty years ago, Texas cedarwood oil was ranked among the “over 100 tons a year” oils, and the whole area of Texas, where Texas cedarwood grew, comprised about three million acres, thus leaving sufficient trees for many years to come. Interestingly, barely 15 years earlier the oil had been practically unknown. The first distillery was started in Rock Springs, Texas, in 1929.

In the beginning, the oil was shipped in the crude state, without being refined. Crude Texas cedarwood oil is a dark orange to brownish, turbid or clear, somewhat viscous liquid. Considerable amounts of crystals deposit from the oil on standing. In cold weather the oil may become entirely solid. The odour of the crude oil is pleasant, sweet-woody, yet somewhat tar-like or cade-like, smoky. On drying it becomes increasingly balsamic-sweet and it shows great tenacity with a uniform, sweet-woody dryout.

Our own oil, which is steam-redistilled, is pale yellow, Its odour is less tar-like, less cade-like or smoky than the crude oil. Compared with oil derived from Virginia cedarwood (Juniperus virginiana L.), the oil from Texas exhibits a higher laevorotation, and higher cedrol content. Because of the higher cedrol content, good Texan oils usually have a little higher specific gravity, a property always desirable in cedarwood oils. Otherwise the Texan oil contains approximately the same constituents as the oil of Juniperus virginiana L. and, therefore, in aromatherapy, can be used for the same purposes as the Virginian oil. Tested at low dose non-toxic, locally high dose may irritate the skin and cause sensitization. Always use diluted, and avoid in pregnancy.

Lengthy shelf-life!
Flicking through this weekend’s FT Magazine, my eyes alighted upon a one and a third page photograph of a bathroom cabinet full of ‘lotions & potions’. It was illustrating yet another article bashing university degree courses in complementary and alternative medicine.

Although there are no published statistics on the availabilty of such courses, the online course search facility offered by the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) reveals forty-two universities offering a total of 84 courses in subjects such as aromatherapy, herbal medicine, reflexology and acupuncture, all beginning this September. Of these, 51 are courses leading to BSc degrees, meaning graduates will be entitled to assert that they are scientifically trained to the highest standards.

As some will know, this entitlement does not go down too well with Professor David Colquhoun, an eminent scientist and a pharmacologist at University College London. Professor Colquhoun has been waging a six-year war against a particular subset of such “non-courses”, originally identified by the Tax-Payers’ Alliance. His campaign specifically targets science degrees in complementary and alternative medicine. It is largely a war that has been waged over the internent - notably through David Colquhoun’s “Improbable Science” website, but also via Ben Goldacre’s “Bad Science” blog and others such as “The Quack-ometer”, which sets out to debunk quack cures. Worth a look, if only to know what you’re up against! This, however, was not the object of my attention.

Amongst the items in the illustrated photograph is a bottle of our French Lavender, the label on which bears a 2002 batch number! I don’t think it is an old photograph either because the packaging of other items is quite new. Obviously, there is not much demand for lavender in that particular household!

Combava.
Do you stock Citrus hystrix oil?, I was asked recently. No, but should we?

Two subgenera exist within Citrus: Papeda and Eucitrus (=Citrus). In contrast to Citrus, Papeda has the following characteristics: the bitter taste of the pulp which makes the fruit inedible; the wings of the petioles are markedly broad, in some cases being larger than the leaf blade; the stamens are free from the base instead of being fused; the flowers and new growth are purple whereas in Citrus this only occurs in lemons; the juice vesicles, inside the carpels, are adhered either to the external part of the membrane or to the lateral sides whereas in Citrus they are always adhered to the external part; and germination is epigeous instead of hypogeous.

Within Papeda there are two subsections. Papedocitrus with four species that are C. ichangensis, C. latipes, C. junos or ‘Yuzu’, and C. wilsonii or ‘Ichang pummelo’, and Papeda with eight species that are C. celebica, C. macrophylla ‘Alemow’ or ‘Kolo’, C. macroptera, C. kerrii, C. combara, C. excelsa, C.micrantha and C. hystrix.

As far as the classification of C. hystrix within the Papeda is concerned, there is one characteristic that has always slightly puzzled me, edibility of the fruit, as its classification would suggest that the fruit is inedible but Steffen Arctander, writing in the late 1950s [Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin], comments:

“Among the numerous varieties of edible citrus fruits, many are known only in small or isolated areas where they have become not only a local variety, but also a local delicacy. A certain tree in the Comoro islands northwest of Madagascar and in other nearby islands and in Madagascar itself produces large and very delicate fruits, locally known as combavas. It was not until recently that the perfumery industry became interested in this tree, Citrus hystrix var. combava. For obvious reasons the volatile oil of the peel of these edible fruits of the tropics is rarely expressed or distilled. Fruits are used as part of everyday food.”
And yet, shortly afterwards, it was proposed that Citrus hystrix DC be classified a member of the section Papeda [Tanaka, T. (1961) Citrologia. Semi-centennial Commemoration Papers on Citrus Studies. Citrologia Supporting Foundation, Osaka]. Perhaps someone who has tasted it will let me know whether it is edible, or not.

Still, it was only when a local essential oil distillery undertook steam distillation of the leaves and twigs of this citrus variety that a new petitgrain oil was discovered: Combava Petitgrain Oil.

The oil is distiguished by its very delicate sweetness and freshness which is distinctly different from bitter orange petitgrain (Citrus aurantium L.) and other well-known petitgrain oils, but more interesting is that this oil contains laevo-citronellal as one of its main contituents (58.9-81.5%). It was hoped that the oil would thus become a new starting material for the production of laevo-citronellol, a perfume material sometimes called rhodinol.

The oil is a pale yellow to greenish yellow, mobile liquid of fresh-leafy, sweet-rosy odour, not unlike eucalyptus citriodora (Corymbia citriodora (Hook.) K.D. Hill & L.A.S. Johnson).

Interestingly, the essential oil from the peel of Citrus hystrix var. torosa, contains a significant percentage of laevo-citronellol, although perhaps not enough to make an isolation economically attractive. This tree grows in the Philippines and may be the ancestor to the combava tree. Many of the utility trees and plants of the Philippines and Melanesia (ylang-ylang, ginger, pepper, lychee, etc.) have been brought along by the immigrants to Madagascar, Nossi-Be and the Comores. The peel oil of C. hystrix var. torosa is known in the Philippines as Colobot Oil and is used locally for the perfuming of cosmetic preparations.

Recently, we have been offered C. hystrix oil from Indonesia. I wonder if this might not be in fact Colobot oil. However, on the other hand, it may indeed be a distillation of the leaves and twigs, but of var. torosa. Only analysis will tell.

The composition of the essential oil of peel of combava is very different, having sabinene (13.0-25.9%), b-pinene (20.4-42.2%), terpinen-4-ol (3.8-8.9%), citronellal (3.4-16.8%), and limonene (2.8-14.2%) as main constituents, and only 1.7-3.0% citronellol.

According to Sato et al., b-pinene (39.5%) and terpinen-4-ol (17.6%) are major components of juice oil of combava too [Sato, A. et al. (1990) The chemical composition of Citrus hystrix DC (Swangi). J. Essent. Oil Res., 2, 179-183].

Although I can find no documented traditional essential oil uses, it is suggested in the aromatherapy literature that the peel oil stimulates and balances ovarian and testicular hormones, is an immuno-stimulant, decongests the liver and stimulates venous activity, and could be useful for debility and fatigue. The petitgrain oil, on the other hand, may help anxiety, stress, anger and insomnia, and ease arthritis, rheumatism, pain and inflammation. Be this the case, it may be worth stocking a little. In any event, it could find use in a home perfumer’s range as a modifier in citrus colognes and, generally, as a new topnote ingrediernt.

An old therapy proven.
You can’t beat a little digging, raking, planting and pruning to keep you fit, but even lighter gardening tasks provide health benefits, particularly for older people, say researchers at Kansas State University.

Last year, horticulture professor Candice Shoemaker and her colleagues reported that gardeners who do a couple of hours of reasonably energetic gardening each week get enough exercise to meet recommended targets for physical activity to ensure good health. Goodness! No wonder Jan is so healthy - she did eight hours straight per day digging and planting over the Bank Holiday, whilst I was nowhere to be seen!

In a follow-up study, Professor Shoemaker compared three groups of older people, aged between 58 and 86, who were active gardeners, less energetic gardeners (definitely my category), or didn’t do any gardening at all, measuring various aspects of their health and fitness [HortScience, 44, p. 206].

‘Gardening can offer many of the health benefits that regular, moderate exercise offers,’ says Shoemaker. Jobs such as digging, raking, mulching give both upper and lower body a good workout and contribute most to improved fitness (I would argue that car washing does much the same!). But less vigorous tasks, such as mixing soil, potting and pruning (my own speciality), made a significant difference too. One of the most dramatic was that all the gardeners in her study had stronger hands. ‘We found that older adults who are gardeners have better hand strength and pinch force, which is a big concern as you age,’ she says.

The effect on hands was so marked that the team is testing gardening therapy as a way of helping people recovering from strokes to build up muscle strength and improve co-ordination. The treatment consists of two sessions a week mixing soil and potting up plants. The results are still being analysed but look promising. Professor Shoemaker suspects that further research with larger groups of people will reveal a much wider range of benefits, from improved quality of sleep to greater contentment with life. I doubt she’s wrong. ‘Because plants are living, growing things, they need regular attention,’ she points out. ‘And that keeps people at it.’

Speaking of keeping at it, a lady on foot, pulling a three-wheeled cart, has just stopped at the house asking for directions. En route to London, she left Tenby in South Wales just eight days ago travelling only on the byways! In aid of charity, she is on her way to meet The Queen.

Finally.....
Where’s that spade?!

charles@essentiallyoils.com

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