The development of citronella oil distillation results into commercialized products

Abstract

Citronella is one of the essential oil-producing plants that can be processed into health and beauty products. This community service activity aims to apply the results of innovation in the form of appropriate technology from the results of citronella oil distillation equipment. This community service activity aims to produce mosquito-repellent cream from citronella oil which is processed at the Chemical Engineering Laboratory, Engineering Faculty of Universitas Riau as well as applying citronella oil distillation tool innovation results in the form of appropriate technology from a citronella oil distillation tool. The service activities are carried out by socializing distillation techniques, a distillation of essential oil from citronella, and testing the characteristics of essential oils from citronella. Based on the test results and observations, the citronella oil produced has physical and chemical characteristics that are in accordance with the requirements. The characteristics of citronella oil produce essential oil with a specific gravity of 0.86 mg/L, a viscosity at 45°C of 2.41 × 10^-6 N.S/m², a free fatty acid rate of 1.1%, and a moisture content of 3.1%. The citronella oil produced has been analyzed chemically and physically. Then citronella oil is used as the main ingredient for making mosquito repellent lotion, under the TABIR brand, and has been published in the Directorate of Intellectual Property of the Republic of Indonesia.