Prospects from the model of growing pomelo for essential oil extraction.

For over four years, the Da Pal Agricultural and Pharmaceutical Production Service Cooperative in Da Huoai district has realized the idea of ​​creating unique essential oil products such as shampoo, conditioner, and hair growth spray from the peel of the green pomelo, using a plant considered a precious medicinal herb in traditional Eastern medicine.

The grapefruit essential oil extraction model of the Da Pal Agricultural Products and Services Cooperative brings stable economic value.

Driven by a desire to offer environmentally friendly, user-safe, and entirely handcrafted products, Mr. Nguyen Mau Tuan, Advisor to the Da Pal Agricultural and Pharmaceutical Products Service Cooperative, pioneered the process of extracting essential oil from pomelos and developed it into the first unit in the district to focus on developing a raw material area for extracting essential oil from green pomelos. “Da Huoai District is a fertile land with suitable climate and soil conditions for developing many high-yield crops. Among them, it is famous for its high-quality green-skinned pomelo, which has received OCOP certification, and medicinal plants. Therefore, I started researching and developing initial products such as herbal shampoo. Through testing and evaluation, the initial results were very good, and the people highly appreciated them. From there, we began to expand production scale and establish a cooperative to allow people to participate in the production chain, improving their quality of life and economic value…,” said Mr. Nguyen Mau Tuan.

The Da Pal Agricultural Products Service Cooperative's grapefruit orchard covers an area of ​​1 hectare and has been planted for 5 years. These are the grapefruit trees "ripe enough" to be harvested as the main raw material for essential oil extraction. Furthermore, the orchard must always be cultivated and cared for entirely naturally, without the use of chemical pesticides, in order to meet the criteria for safe agricultural products. In addition, the Cooperative has invested in and built a separate area with complete modern equipment to serve the closed-loop essential oil production and processing process. This area is fully equipped with all the necessary equipment to ensure safe and clean essential oil production right in the factory. Therefore, each finished product undergoes strict quality control.

According to Mr. Tuan, a quality herbal product must meet three criteria. Firstly, the raw materials must be truly clean and of sufficient age; secondly, the blending formula must be balanced in terms of yin and yang and the five elements; and finally, the integrity of the producer.

Sharing about the difficulties in implementing the model, Mr. Tuan said that the most challenging stage was growing pomelos, which had to be absolutely free of chemical pesticides. Therefore, when collaborating with local people to grow pomelos for the cooperative, he always insisted on not using these substances and instead provided specific guidance to the farmers on using safe probiotics.

Besides using pomelo, the cooperative has been orienting, expanding, and experimenting with other medicinal plants such as sandalwood and lemongrass to diversify its essential oil products. Thanks to the quality and eco-friendly, handcrafted production process, the cooperative's pomelo essential oil products are not only well-received by local people but also trusted by many customers in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi . "Building on the achievements of the past, our cooperative will continue to expand production scale, together build a clean raw material area, and contribute to creating jobs for people right here in the locality," added Mr. Nguyen Mau Tuan.

According to Mr. Pham Van Dong, Vice Chairman of the Da Pal Commune People's Committee, the Da Pal Agricultural Products Service Cooperative has found ways to process and market grapefruit essential oil, a valuable crop in the Da Pal area, with various uses, contributing to increasing the economic value of grapefruit. This is one of the local models considered to have great potential for development. “In 2025, Da Pal commune will have a long-term orientation to build and develop the products of the Da Pal Agricultural and Medicinal Products Service Cooperative into local OCOP products, contributing to increasing the economic value of green pomelo. In the future, the Cooperative's herbal essential oil products will continue to focus on improving productivity and aiming for even higher-value essential oil products. Through this, we will affirm the quality of our unique, handcrafted, eco-friendly, and consumer-friendly products,” said Mr. Pham Van Dong.

Source: http://baolamdong.vn/kinh-te/202503/trien-vong-tu-mo-hinh-trong-buoi-lay-tinh-dau-d2b17c8/