Vetiveria zizanoides, also known as "vetiver grass" and as "Chrysopogon zizanioides" is a herb that belongs to the Poaceae botanical family .

Vetiveria Zizanoides Leaf/Root Water. The name describes the structure of the molecule:

• Vetiveria Zizanoides refers to the botanical species "Vetiveria Zizanoides", commonly known as vetiver. Vetiver is a perennial grass belonging to the Poaceae family, famous for its long aromatic roots.
• Leaf/Root indicates that the water is obtained from both the leaves and the roots of the vetiver plant.
• Water refers to the aromatic water or hydrosol obtained from the steam distillation of the plant's leaves and roots. This process captures both the essential oil and the aromatic water, which contains water-soluble components of the plant.

Raw Materials and Their Functions

The leaves and roots of vetiver are rich in essential oils and bioactive compounds with a unique aromatic profile, which includes woody, earthy, and slightly smoky notes..

Industrial Production Process

• Steam distillation of the leaves and roots of Vetiveria Zizanoides. During this process, steam passes through the leaves and roots, extracting aromatic components and essential oils, which are then condensed to form leaf/root water.
• Purification. After distillation, Vetiveria Zizanoides leaf/root water is purified to remove any impurities.
• Quality Control. Vetiveria Zizanoides leaf/root water undergoes quality testing to ensure it meets the required standards in terms of purity and aromatic profile.

Form and Color

 Vetiveria Zizanoides Leaf/Root Water, or vetiver water, is typically a liquid. This compound is usually colorless or very light in color.

What it is for and where

 It is used in cosmetic and skincare products, such as toners, facial sprays, and lotions. Vetiver water, derived from both the leaves and roots, is valued for its calming, refreshing, and moisturizing properties. It is also used in aromatherapy and wellness products for its light, earthy scent, which can have relaxing and balancing effects.

Cosmetics

Skin conditioning agent. It is the mainstay of topical skin treatment as it has the function of restoring, increasing or improving skin tolerance to external factors, including melanocyte tolerance. The most important function of the conditioning agent is to prevent skin dehydration, but the subject is rather complex and involves emollients and humectants that can be added in the formulation.

CAS   8016-96-4   84238-29-9

EC number    282-490-8

Medical

Two bioactive constituents, khusenic acid and khusimol, have been isolated and characterized from the roots of Vetiveria zizanoides. These compounds have shown antimicrobial activity against drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In silico analysis revealed that these compounds have good binding affinity with the bacterial DNA gyrase subunits and a favorable ADME profile, suggesting their potential as therapeutic agents (1).

Other uses

Vetiveria zizanoides, also known as vetiver grass, has been identified as a suitable candidate for the phytoremediation of heavy metals. Studies have investigated arsenic (As) accumulation, translocation, and tolerance in V. zizanoides plants exposed to different concentrations of arsenic. These plants have been found effective in removing As, especially at higher concentrations. The activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), catalase (CAT), and glutathione s-transferase (GST) increases in response to arsenic-induced oxidative stress, enhancing the plants' tolerance (2).

Another study evaluated the ability of Vetiveria zizanoides to remove antimony and other contaminants (2).

Lastly, the use of Vetiveria zizanoides in the remediation of cyanide soil contamination was examined. The findings indicated that vetiver grass might be useful in cleaning up cyanide-contaminated soils, especially in gold and silver mining sites (3).

References_____________________________________________________________________

(1) Dwivedi GR, Gupta S, Roy S, Kalani K, Pal A, Thakur JP, Saikia D, Sharma A, Darmwal NS, Darokar MP, Srivastava SK. Tricyclic sesquiterpenes from Vetiveria zizanoides (L.) Nash as antimycobacterial agents. Chem Biol Drug Des. 2013 Nov;82(5):587-94. doi: 10.1111/cbdd.12188. Epub 2013 Aug 21. PMID: 23841574.

(2) Mirza N, Mubarak H, Chai LY, Yong W, Khan MJ, Khan QU, Hashmi MZ, Farooq U, Sarwar R, Yang ZH. The Potential Use of Vetiveria zizanioides for the Phytoremediation of Antimony, Arsenic and Their Co-Contamination. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 2017 Oct;99(4):511-517. doi: 10.1007/s00128-017-2150-2. 

Abstract. Antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As) contaminations are the well reported and alarming issues of various contaminated smelting and mining sites all over the world, especially in China. The present hydroponic study was to assess the capacity of Vetiveria zizanioides for Sb, As and their interactive accumulations. The novelty of the present research is this that the potential of V. zizanioides for Sb and As alone and their interactive accumulation are unaddressed. This is the first report about the interactive co-accumulation of Sb and As in V. zizanioides. Highest applied Sb and As contaminations significantly inhibited the plant growth. Applied Sb and As alone significantly increased their concentrations in the roots/shoot of V. zizanioides. While co-contamination of Sb and As steadily increased their concentrations, in the plant. The co-contamination of Sb and As revealed a positive correlation between the two, as they supplemented the uptake and accumulation of each other. The overall translocation (TF) and bioaccumulation factors (BF) of Sb in V. zizanioides, were 0.75 and 4. While the TF and BF of As in V. zizanioides, were 0.86 and 10. V. zizanioides proved as an effective choice for the phytoremediation and ecosystem restoration of Sb and As contaminated areas.

(3) Lu H, Xia C, Chinnathambi A, Nasif O, Narayanan M, Shanmugam S, Lan Chi NT, Pugazhendhi A, On-Uma R, Jutamas K, Anupong W. Optimistic influence of multi-metal tolerant Bacillus species on phytoremediation potential of Chrysopogon zizanioides on metal contaminated soil. Chemosphere. 2023 Jan;311(Pt 1):136889. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136889.