Chamomile: Blossoming Around the World

Chamomile is unmistakable with its bright yellow center, white petals, and floral, apple-like scent. Unknown to most, chamomile is actually a common name for several daisy-like plants of the family Asteraceae.

However, there are two types that have stood out amongst the rest due to their use in traditional medicine: German chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) and Roman chamomile (Chamomilum nobile). In this blog, we are talking about German chamomile – a favorite amongst many consumers because it makes a better tasting cup of tea.

Chamomile is native to Europe and West Africa and since ancient times, it has been highly valued by Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks for its medicinal properties – so much so that it was worthy enough to offer it to their gods. They regularly used the chamomile flowers to treat skin conditions caused by dry weather and as a calming beverage in the form of tea or tisane.* Today, chamomile is still valued for its personal care and calming benefits, but now it is being cultivated commercially in many countries. Martin Bauer’s supply chain, alone, spans 4 continents. Literally, chamomile is blossoming all around the world.

Chamomile has come a long way since ancient times and not just in terms of cultivation areas, but harvest methods too. Unsurprisingly, the first method of harvesting was hand harvesting. Finger picking, the most labor intensive harvest method, is only carried out on small stocks in most countries except in Egypt, where it is used almost exclusively. The picking rate of freshly harvested short-stemmed chamomile flowers is about 3-5 kg per hour. Somewhat higher picking yields were then achieved with so-called chamomile picking combs. They were used for harvesting cultivated fields in Hungary until the 1970s and are still used today for organized harvesting in wild populations. The picking rate of fresh flowers is about 50-150 kg per day. Throughout history, other methods included the use of special rakes or the comb shovels used in Hungary, which were swung through the chamomile stand like a scythe. Ultimately, such manual methods were not feasible for the production of large quantities. This was primarily due to the labor time requirements of about 25-30 working days per hectare. This problem had to be solved by the construction of mechanized harvesters.

Today, large scale commercial cultivation of chamomile in Germany and abroad uses chamomile picking machines, which pick the flower heads in the fields automatically and mechanically as a self-propelled machine, as a front carrier machine, or as a full harvester. These mechanical harvesting methods have a picking rate of 200-400 kg per hour and an area output of about 3.5 ha per day. These modern methods capture about 65-90% of all flowers, depending on climate and stand-specific conditions.

^*American Botanical Council