In recent years, the people had more and more the tendency to return to remedies offered by nature. Nowadays, according to W.H.O. data, over 80% out of world population is using the medicinal plants for which a great interest was generated by traditional phytotherapy and especially by the fact that they represent an important source of bioactive substances. Therefore, the fields cultivated with medicinal plants have been extended and the relevant culture technologies have been modernized and adapted to current requirements. In general, mechanized harvesting of medicinal and aromatic plants is an important prerequisite in achieving a good production. Lavender is one of the most valuable aromatic species due to its volatile oil obtained by distillation of fresh inflorescences, being widely used in industry of perfume, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, aromatherapy, etc. Harvesting technologies of lavender and medicinal plants require specialized equipment designed according to cultivated field size. This paper presents a lavender harvesting technology, based on the utilization of a low-capacity equipment designed to gather the lavender from rather reduced surfaces. At the same time, a technology of harvesting medicnal plants, from which aerial organs (stems, leaves, flowers) are collected, is presented together with the small capacity equipment used for this purpose. This equipment was designed in order to support small farmers, for whom lavender and other medicinal species cultivation (from which the herb is capitalized) represents a real opportunity for obtaining major incomes

BARSAN, M.

BOBIT, D.

MUSCALU, A.

PRUTEANU, A.

VLADUT, V.

Annals of the University of Craiova - Agriculture, Montanology, Cadastre Series

Analele Universităţii din Craiova, seria Agricultură – Montanologie – Cadastru (Annals of the University of Craiova - Agriculture,Montanology, Cadastre Series)Vol. XLVI 2016488HARVESTING TECHNOLOGIES FOR MEDICINAL AND AROMATICPLANTSMUSCALU A.1), BARSAN M.1), PRUTEANU A.1), VLADUT V.1), BOBIT D.2)1)National Institute of Research Development for Machines and Installations Designed toAgriculture and Food Industry, e-mail: amuscalis@yahoo.com;2)Dacia Plant Company; e-mail: dana.bobit@daciaplant.roKeywords: medicinal and aromatic plants, harvesting, herb, technical equipment;ABSTRACTIn recent years, the people had more and more the tendency to return to remediesoffered by nature. Nowadays, according to W.H.O. data, over 80% out of world population isusing the medicinal plants for which a great interest was generated by traditional phytotherapyand especially by the fact that they represent an important source of bioactive substances.Therefore, the fields cultivated with medicinal plants have been extended and the relevantculture technologies have been modernized and adapted to current requirements. In general,mechanized harvesting of medicinal and aromatic plants is an important prerequisite inachieving a good production. Lavender is one of the most valuable aromatic species due to itsvolatile oil obtained by distillation of fresh inflorescences, being widely used in industry ofperfume, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, aromatherapy, etc. Harvesting technologies of lavenderand medicinal plants require specialized equipment designed according to cultivated field size.This paper presents a lavender harvesting technology, based on the utilization of a low-capacity equipment designed to gather the lavender from rather reduced surfaces. At thesame time, a technology of harvesting medicnal plants, from which aerial organs (stems,leaves, flowers) are collected, is presented together with the small capacity equipment usedfor this purpose. This equipment was designed in order to support small farmers, for whomlavender and other medicinal species cultivation (from which the herb is capitalized)represents a real opportunity for obtaining major incomes.INTRODUCTIONOver the centuries, medicine and natural products have been directly related by thetraditional medicines utilization, [2].Today, the increasingly demand of medicinal plants – either for treatment, or forplant-based cosmetics, or as spices in food industry imposed to extend the fields cultivatedwith this species, modernize and also adapt the crop technologies to current requirements,[7.8].Medicinal species have a phyto-therapeutic impact due to the content of bioactivechemical components, also named principia active, having positive effect on humanmetabolism but also animals’ metabolism (we are referring to livestock sector). Dependingon the presence of certain active principles, plants may have specific effects, reinforced bytheir synergic action, having both therapeutic and preventive qualities, [1]. Many medicinalplants are intensively consumed as food supplements. At the same time, they are used inlivestock, as fodder additives for replacing the chemical substances, [5].As the basis of medicinal and aromatic plant therapeutic efficiency is given by thedialectic relationship between active substance and pharmacodynamic action, the qualityof vegetal material obtained is of major importance. It greatly depends on the moment ofharvest of this species, moment that should coincide with the period when accumulationsof active principles in plant’s useful parts, are maximum.Analele Universităţii din Craiova, seria Agricultură – Montanologie – Cadastru (Annals of the University of Craiova - Agriculture,Montanology, Cadastre Series)Vol. XLVI 2016489According to the useful part harvested, the harvesting methods can be the following:aerial organs-by cutting; leaves by pinching or turning (they are detached by passing thehand along the branch, without crushing them), flowers by pinching (pulling out),; fruits byindividual picking or shaking; underground parts are extracted by means of specializedtools and equipment, [1].At the same time, medicinal and aromatic plants harvesting may be performedmanually, semi-mechanically and mechanically.Mechanized harvesting may be animportant prerequisite and sometimes even a guarantee for achieving profitableproductions of medicinal and aromatic plants, but certain conditions must be met, namely:- create new varieties of medicinal and aromatic plants so that the plants belongingto a certain culture should be able to uniformly grow;- design and manufacture high performance machines based on new harvestingtechniques, [4].]Lavender (Lavandulaangustifolia Mill.) is one of the medicinal and aromatic plantsknown since the immemorial time. The Romans used it to perfume their bathrooms, and theorigin of the word,,lavandula " comes from the Latin,, lavare " that means is to wash.Lavender is cultivated for its inflorescences rich in volatile oil (0.7 – 1.4 % in the freshinflorescences), used as a strong flavouring agent in the perfumery and cosmetics, butalso in the case of damages, [7]. The major bioactive substances from the volatile oil arethe linalool (40-60%) and its ester – the linalyl acetate (30-40%), [8].The Lavandula is a bush which strain highly branched at the base, forms a bushalmost globulous, semispherical, 30-70 cm tall or taller. The old strain is brown, withexfoliated bark, and the strains (branches) young are quadrangular, pubescent. Theflowers of type of the bobiats, with aromatic smell due to Oleifici glands, are grouped in aspeciforme inflorescence.Lavender blooms in June-July. Is recommended the harvesting at the full flowering(50-75% inflorescences opened),at midday, between the hours 10-14, on sunny and warmweather, with no wind, dew or fog, in order to exist the maximum volatile oil intoinflorescences. It is harvested by cutting at not more than 10-12 cm of the last verticil. [8]There are numerous species of medicinal and aromatic plants which useful part,that is to be collected, is made of aerial organs, respectively stem with flowers and leaves.These parts are harvested by cutting, as a general rule in plants flowering period, but,sometimes stems with leaves may be harvested during the whole growing period [1,3].Harvesting by cutting refers to plant stem cut at a determined distance from theground. This operation can be manually (with sickle) or mechanically performed (withcutting apparatus).Sickle harvesting of medicinal and aromatic plants as any manualoperation represents a long and expensive process, associated to great losses.Cutting apparatus used in harvesting medicinal and aromatic plants can be classicalsuch this used in sickles building with cutting by shearing, with simple or double knife. Thecutting forces are applied on two distinct parts: knife and counter-knife. The knife is madeof a steel plat-band on which are fixed the blades by rivets. The knife performs anoscillating movement (alternative translation) cutting the plants which penetrate the holesbetween fingers (due to the machine forward movement) and are supported by it duringcutting. The cutting process produces when the blade’s cutting edge passes over the edgeof counter-knife mounted on finger.The apparatus is endowed with double knife, the role of fingers and counter-cuttingplates is accomplished by the second knife, which moves with a speed equal with and ofcontrary direction comparing to the first [6].MATERIALS AND METHODSMechanized harvesting technology of lavender is based on technical equipment,intended for the harvest of this species from relatively small areas, situated in lowland orAnalele Universităţii din Craiova, seria Agricultură – Montanologie – Cadastru (Annals of the University of Craiova - Agriculture,Montanology, Cadastre Series)Vol. XLVI 2016490hilly areas, on lands whose slope does not exceed 6º. It consists of the followingsubassemblies: 1 – mower; 2 - chassis with possibilities of rolling; 3 - sack for thecollection of the harvested material, (Figure 1).The mower is an equipment type SV100, produced by Kawasakicompany for thetea harvesting (Figure 2). It is endowed with a cutting apparatus with double knife with 2curved blades (pos. 1), of 1 m length. The blades cut the lavender inflorescences due totheir oscillating movement performed at equal speed and contrary direction. The cuttingblades shape is adapted to lavender bushes shape. Fan (pos. 2) blows the air over thecutting apparatus and pushes the inflorescences cut into the collecting sack. The cuttingapparatus and the fan are both driven by a two-stroke spark ignition engine, cooled by air,T320 model, manufactured by Mitsubishi company(pos.3).Figure 1 - Lavender harvesting equipment ERL-0 Figure 2 - The mower of the lavender harvestingequipmentBesides the engine controls, the mower also owns and controls for working,mounted on a support located above the engine zone (Figure 3). The working controlsconsist of a "main switch" (pos.1) of the ignition system of the engine, the control of motorcoupling with the cutting machine (pos.2) and the control of the engine load("acceleration") (pos.3), allowing the adaptation of its operation regime with the real needsof the cutting device.Figure 3 - The working controls of the mower Figure 4 - The chassis with rolling possibilitiesThe chassis with rolling possibilities (Figure 4) consists of: 1 – front half bridges; 2 –framework; 3 – back half bridges; 4 – driving handle;5 – supporting tarp of the collectionbag; 6 – longeron. The frame is a rectangular structure made of steel pipes, assembledwith screws and nuts, having in the four corners sliding elements. Sliding of theseelements the half bridges pillars allows the adjustment of the chassis height from theground and implicitly the working height of the cutting device.The collecting bag is a rectangular bag, made of synthetic material, provided withan elastic cord for tightening at the front side, which is mounted by hooking by the clampsfitted on the rear contour of the mower. The bag lower part is not sewn in order to adjust itsuseful length by binding with cord in the appropriate section, depending on the quantity ofinflorescences to be harvested between two discharging operations. The bag is fitted witha screen mesh for the air exhaust that directs the material cut into its inside.Before starting the operation of lavender harvesting, is set the working height and ismade the equipment setup. Then, it is transported by pushing with the engine stopped, upto the end of row of plants to be harvested and is placed on row’s direction. Its wheels runAnalele Universităţii din Craiova, seria Agricultură – Montanologie – Cadastru (Annals of the University of Craiova - Agriculture,Montanology, Cadastre Series)Vol. XLVI 2016491in the row space and the equipment „steps over” the lavender row, so that the cuttingapparatus be located approximately symmetrically comparing to that.Start the engine and then engage the cutting device. It increases the „enginespeed” to about 50% of its capacity and begins advancing on row. Depending on harvestconditions (the desired forward speed, the characteristics of the lavender culture) it actsthe control „increasing the engine speed” until it reaches the harvesting regime consideredsatisfactory.The main technical and functional characteristics of the equipment:- Mower manufacturer...............Zhejiang Kawasaki Tea MachinaryCo.Ltd (China);- Mower model .............................................................................................SV 100;- Type of cutting device.......................................................with double cutting blade;- Cutting blade............curved, radius of 1150 mm (height of 135mm in the center);- Manufacturer of mower engine:............................................... .Mitsubishi (Japan);- engine model..................................................................................................T320;- Engine type:.....................................monocilindrical, spark ignition and air cooling;- Engine capacity............................................................................................46 cm3;- Maximum power engine...............................................................................2.2 kW;- front track:.................................................................................................1400 mm;- rear track:..................................................................................................1238 mm;- Wheelbase: max...............................1917 mm (with the swivel wheels to the rear);- Cutting height (at the extremities of the device):............adjustable, 100 ...550 mm;- Cutting width:..............................................................................................900 mm;- Fuel consumption:......................0.420...0.950 l/h (depending on operating mode);- Speed of air flow developed by the blower:...........................................15...21m s-1- Overall dimensions:-length (with swivel wheels oriented towards rear part):..................max. 2370 mm ;-width:.......................................................................................................1525 mm;-height:......................................................................................................1300 mm;- Equipment mass:.............................................................................................48 kg;- Serving personal:...........................................................................1 or 2 operators.In order to develop a technology suitable to a mechanized harvest of aerial organsof certain species of medicinal and aromatic plants, a technical harvesting equipment wasdesigned, named ERPM-0.Figure 5 - Equipment of harvesting medicinal and aromatic plants, ERPM-0The field of utilization of equipment ERPM-0 comprises all the species of medicinaland aromatic plants that should be harvested as stem with leaves and flowers or only thestem with leaves and which is also cultivated on rows or in stripes, on rather reducedAnalele Universităţii din Craiova, seria Agricultură – Montanologie – Cadastru (Annals of the University of Craiova - Agriculture,Montanology, Cadastre Series)Vol. XLVI 2016492surfaces. It comprises the following sub-assemblies: 1-mower, 2- chassis with rollingpossibility, 3- collecting bag, 4- collecting bag support, (Figure 5).In this case, the mower used will be of double knife type, but endowed with straightblades and will have a working width of 1.2 m, for harvesting the plants disposed on 3/5rows (for a distance between rows d=0.5/0.25m), on 2 rows( for 0.625m≤d≤1m) or in stripsof1m width.The functioning principle of the new equipment is always based on plantsharvesting by cutting, the operating method being similar to that of equipment previouslydescribed. Due to the fact that ERPM-0 is a universal equipment, aiming to harvest a lot ofspecies of medicinal and aromatic plants, annual or perennial (all-saints’-wort, mint, basil,hyssop, etc), its cutting height will largely vary, in order to meet the harvesting conditions.Technical characteristics provided for ERPM-0: Cutting height: adjustable, 40 ...500 mm; Cutting width: 1200 mm; Front track: 1552 mm; Rear track: 1370 mm; Wheelbase: 1832 mm; Overall dimensions Lxlxh:  2370x1682x1300 mm Engine:T320, Mitsubishi, Japan;RESEARCH RESULTSIn this chapter, we intend to present only the experimental results obtained with thelavender harvesting equipment ERL-0, because the equipment for harvesting medicinaland aromatic plants ERPM-0 is only in execution phase.Experimentation of the equipment ERL-0 for determining the working qualitativeindices was done in a lavender crop of 2-3 years (Table 1).Table 1The working qualitative indicesCrt.No.Denomination of qualitative workingindexes M. U. Value1 Minimum height of cut (at mid blade) mm 2502 Variation index of the cutting height % 11.23 Efficiency of the cutting process % 97.04 Losses (uncut plants) % 3.05 The collection process efficiency % 98.46 Losses (uncollected cut plants) % 1.6CONCLUSIONSFollowing the tests of equipment ERL-0, the qualitative indexes achieved havedemonstrated the equipment high efficiency in collecting lavender inflorescences.In latest years, in Romania, small farmers  owning agricultural fields cultivated moreand more medicinal and aromatic plants and especially lavender , as this species allows tocapitalize  small surface or less productive lands, as well as to obtain major incomes in arelative short time.Technology of harvesting the lavender and that designed to medicinal andaromaticplants were designed in order to support small farmers for obtaining high qualityproductions and respectively ensuring new competitiveness and profitability conditions inmarket economy.Development of such technologies may implicitly contribute to improving ecologicalproduction, traceability and safety of natural products.Analele Universităţii din Craiova, seria Agricultură – Montanologie – Cadastru (Annals of the University of Craiova - Agriculture,Montanology, Cadastre Series)Vol. XLVI 2016493ACKNOWLEDGEMENTThe work has been funded by Ministry of National Education and Research through theNational Agency for Scientific Research and Innovation, within the project entitled„Innovative technology and equipment for increasing the quality of plant raw materialobtained from medicinal and aromatic plants, in the view of elaborating competitive organicproducts”, PN 16 24 03 03.REFERENCES1. Dihoru A., Dihoru Gh. Plants used in human and animal digestion, Editura ArsDocendi Publishing, Bucharest, 2008, (ISBN 978-973-558-376-7);2. Hajjaj G., Bounihi A., Tajani M., Cherrah Y., Zellou A.In vivo analgesic activity ofessential oil and aqueous extract of Matricaria Chamomilla L. (Asteraceae),WorldJournal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Volume 3, Issue 5, 2013, (ISSN2278 – 4357);3. Hegazi R.A., Molari G., El-Sheikha A.M. Prototype of harvesting system for somearomatic and medicinal plants, International Journal of Agricultural Research 6 (5),420-428, 2011, (ISSN 1816-4894);4. Martinov M., Konstantinovic M., Chapter 2, Harvesting by book Medicinal andaromatic crops, Haworth Food &Agricultural Product PressTM, an imprint of TheHaworth Press, Inc. New York, 2007, (ISBN 978-1-56022-974-2);5. Máthé A. A new look at medicinal and aromatic plants, ISHS Acta Horticulturae 925,XXVIII International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People,IHC2010, (ISBN 978-90-66056-44-2);6. Neculaiasa V., Danila I., Working processes and agricultural harvesting machines,Editura A92 Publishing, Iasi, 1995, ( ISBN 973-96138-5-3);7. Roman G. şi colabCultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants according toenvironmental-free agriculture, Editura Ceres Publishing, Bucharest, 2009, (ISBN 978-973-40-0823-0);8. Verzea Maria and colab, Crop technologies for medicinal and aromatic plants , Ed.Orizonturi Publishing, Bucharest, 2001, (ISBN 973-9342-33-7).

HARVESTING TECHNOLOGIES FOR MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS

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HARVESTING TECHNOLOGIES FOR MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS

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Annals of the University of Craiova - Agriculture, Montanology, Cadastre Series