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View all search resultsTracing the warmth of cajuput oil
The leaf business: A farmer, Ode, collects cajuput leaves to boil at Kotania Bay, at Seram Island’s westernpart, Maluku
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The leaf business: A farmer, Ode, collects cajuput leaves to boil at Kotania Bay, at Seram Island’s westernpart, Maluku.
In Indonesia, cajuput oil is a household ointment to keep babies and toddlers warm, and for relief from mild illness.
The warm smell and the oil’s sensation on one’s skin makes cajuput oil the popular choice for people flu prevention or if they have an upset stomach.
In Maluku at the bay area of Kotania in the westernpart of Seram Island, farmers of cajuput trees traditionally produce the popular oil by boiling cajuput leaves in a big barrel.
Moment of zen: Ode stirs the cajuput oil at Kotania Bay, at Seram Island’s westernpart, Maluku. 
Cajuput oil comes from the distilled extract of leaves of the cajuput tree.
To make cajuput oil, farmers boil 400 kilograms of cajuput leaves in a barrel. It takes around eight hours for the vapor to rise. The leaves are then collected in jerricans and rescreened using cotton. From 400 kilograms of leaves, farmers produce 3.5 kilograms of oil.
Distributors buy the oil for Rp 130,000 (US$14) per kilogram. Factories then treat the oil and fill bottles that we see in supermarkets.
— Text and photos by JP/Nurhayati.
Can it: A jerrican for holding the cajuput oil. From 400 kilograms of leaves, farmers produce 3.5 kilograms of oil. 
Breaking time: After treating the oil, Ode takes a rest before selling the commodity to dealers in Kotania.
