Indian basil (Ocimum basillicum), lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) and coriander (Coriandrum sativum) leaves are a good source of aromatic oils; however, their extraction volume is low. Hence, two pre-treatment systems (ohmic-heating and ultrasonic) were devised for extraction of essential oils (EO) from the leaves of these three plant spp., which consequently enhanced the EO yield and saved the time and energy. First of all, an experimental set-up was developed for ohmic-heating pre-treatment which was subjected to the optimization of electric conductivity of lemongrass and coriander leaves at 26.25 V/cm and for Indian basil at 22.5 V/cm voltage gradient. An Experimental setup was also developed for ohmic heating-assisted hydro-distillation (OHD). Finally, conventional Clevenger hydro-distillation (CHD), OHD, ultrasonic-assisted conventional hydro-distillation (UACHD) and ultrasonic-assisted ohmic-heating hydro-distillation (UAOHD) methods were evaluated for their effectiveness in the extraction of the EOs. The OHD took 3.5 h time with 410 W power consumption compared to 5 h time and 500 W power consumption in CHD of sleeted leaves. Likewise, a saving of ~ 86% in time and 74% in energy consumption was observed for EO extraction through UAOHD over CHD. Quantity of EOs extracted from all three aromatic plant spp. leaves followed the trend of UAOHD > UACHD > OHD > CHD methods, respectively. Overall, ultrasonic pre-treatment coupled with ohmic-heating assisted hydro-distillation (UAOHD) proved as an innovative and effective clean EO extraction technology which took shorter extraction time and lesser energy consumption with better EO yield over the UACHD, OHD and CHD methods from the leaves of Indian basil, lemongrass and coriander.

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Organic food products are gaining popularity among consumers because of improved awareness about health, and protection of the environment. Though the organic food market is keen today but to broaden it further, one must understand consumers’ perception for organic products. In this study, consumers’ behavioural intention and perception was studied towards purchase of organic food. Structured questionnaires were formulated and 1047 respondents residing in the urban sectors of Delhi were approached. The reliability analysis of questionnaires carried out using the Cronbach's Alpha test indicated that for the tested variables i.e. Attitude, Subjective norms and Perceived Behaviour Control (PBC), the value calculated was approx. 0.90. Further, theory of planned behaviour (TPB) applied to the study showed 78% variance amongst the above stated three variables towards the behavioral intention of the consumers for organic food, and PBC was the most impactful variable to affect the overall intention of the consumers’ to purchase organic products. Price value, followed by the origin and freshness of the produce were some of the important factors contributing in decision making. Moreover, consumers prefer to purchase organic foods if they are not very expensive in comparison to the conventional ones. The results provided in-depth insight about the consumers’ behavioural intentions, knowledge, perception and factors contributing to the purchase behavior of organic food commodities by the Indian urban population.

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