3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
43
EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE IMPROVEMENT OF A SYSTEM
OF PRODUCTION AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF ESSENTIAL
MOLLE OIL (SCHINUS MOLLE)
Raquel Medina Rodríguez
EUPG Escuela Universitaria de Posgrado - Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal, (Perú).
E-mail: rmedina@uni.edu.pe ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3311-7171
Jorge Luis Breña Oré
National University of Engineering UNI, (Perú).
E-mail: jorge.brena.o@uni.edu.pe ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6450-7052
Doris Esenarro Vargas
Specialized Institute for Ecosystems and Natural Resources Research (INERN)
Ricardo Palma University - URP, (Perú).
E-mail: desenarro@unfv.edu.pe ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7186-9614
Recepción: 13/07/2021 Aceptación: 02/11/2021 Publicación: 24/11/2021
Citación sugerida:
Medina, R., Breña, J. L., y Esenarro, D. (2021). Ecient and sustainable improvement of a system of production and
commercialization of Essential Molle Oil (Schinus Molle). 3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico, 10(4), 43-75.
https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
44 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
ABSTRACT
This research describes the relationships between the design of an ecient production cycle of metabolites
from the Schinus molle plant, from extraction, processing, product formulation to the nal disposal of its
residues, and the project's environmental sustainability. The target population in this research was limited
to small farmers-producers, marketers of natural products, technicians of the municipalities related to the
MYPES, and students of engineering and careers related to agriculture and its processing, which were
convened by a digital marketing system via Facebook, reaching a total of 300 participants in total. The
sample chosen was non-probabilistic and consisted of 94 participants who gave their informed consent.
The research design was pre-experimental. The results obtained through self-applied instruments in the
control and experimental groups, under the application of an intervention program were subjected to
hypothesis tests of mean dierences with Wilcoxon statistics for related samples, reaching the general
conclusion that the application of counseling and training programs in green business models based
on the extraction and processing of Shinus molle essential oil positively inuences the perceptions of
stakeholders on the environmental sustainability of projects of this nature.
KEYWORDS
Environmental sustainability, Environmental concern, Ecological dimension, Sustainable development,
Sustainability.
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
45 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
1. INTRODUCTION
Ecological agriculture requires innovation processes in collaborative networks as an imperative need of
a global nature framed in the complexity paradigm. This metamorphosis has to occur within a learning
process (Tisenkopfs & Kunda, 2015) that can re-energize the ecosystemic balances, which the endemic
eagerness of compulsive consumerism has dangerously modied. Unfortunately, the discussion between
organic and conventional agriculture is still antithetical and occurs at all levels in structuring state
policies. While the former prioritizes ecosystem balances, the latter is based on increasingly demanding
globalized markets (Ramón et al., 2012), suggesting the beginnings of the Anthropocene era (Meng et al.,
2021).
Considering agroecology as a sustainable paradigm, there are still insucient studies of micro, small
business, and startup models that are congruent with production and marketing models within the
agroecological rationale, with closed-cycle processes, within the paradigm of the circular economy
about minimizing the production of waste and in any case to manage it for its reincorporation into the
production chain.
The innovation process evaluated in this research is based on structuring collaborative networks between
farmers, academia, and civil society, where experiences are exchanged and learning processes for
transformation occur (Hediger & Knickel, 2009). Unfortunately, while it is true that Peru is one of the
most biodiverse countries, this importance has not helped the economic progress of farmers. Among the
reasons given is the ineectiveness of the state for its inability to articulate the regions with sectors of civil
society and academia to promote the development and prosperity of farmers and rural areas.
According to the report published by IndustryARC (2019), in 2015 - 2022, the global essential oils
market is expected to generate around USD 11.5 billion, at a CAGR of 10.1% between 2016 and 2022.
Europe is the dominant market and is expected to be the major contributor to the global revenue of
producing countries, owing to the revaluing trend of essential oils on a worldwide scale.
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
46 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
This research aims to evaluate the feasibility of optimizing the value-added chain for Schinus molle
essential oil producers, as a transversal axis, through an eco-business proposal within the paradigm of
environmental sustainability and in a framework that promotes endogenous sustainable development.
2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
2.1. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The construct refers to the unavoidable metamorphosis that must take place about how we relate to the
world around us. Therefore, it is urgent to dene agendas of a globalized nature, capable of assuming
new paradigms to systemically address the economic-social-environmental triad dimension with a vision
of politicians and strategists capable of permeating the social-environmental size to the principles of
the economic extent (Cordera, 2017). i.e., "Governments face the complex challenge of nding the
right balance between competing demands on natural and social resources, without sacricing economic
progress" (Strange & Bayley, 2012, p. 33).
In the conceptualization of sustainable development, it is recognized that nature's reserves of availability
are being depleted as a result of unplanned economic and technological development, which only
takes into consideration current human needs and even within a habitual framework of compulsive
consumerism to the detriment of nature. Consequently, it is urgent to initiate research projects with a
dierent vision for the generation of applied knowledge in the state-academia-civil society triad to make
the sustainability of agroecological projects viable (Gavito et al., 2017).
Sustainable development does not involve a stationary or static desired equilibrium state, specied
through sustainability indicators as guarantee standards (Hediger & Knickel, 2009). Instead, sustainable
development is a dynamic, complex state immersed in the process of permanent change and
reconguration based on the integrity of the system it represents (Hediger & Knickel, 2009).
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
47 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
2.2. DIMENSIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
According to González (2012), four dimensions should be considered to address sustainable development.
These dimensions are society, environment, culture, and economy, which present dynamic relationships
due to the complexity of the construct. According to this approach, man, by constructing himself
socially and culturally, transforms himself, achieving a new cultural environment. On the other hand,
Larrouyet (2015) argues that sustainable development "implies advancing simultaneously in ve
dimensions: economic, human, environmental, institutional and technological" (p. 24). Therefore, the
characterization of the sustainable development prole to be designed depends on the socio-cultural
context characteristics of the nations.
The present research considers three dimensions of sustainable development, which should be assumed
as a systemic and indissoluble triad: economy, society, and environment (Carro-suárez & Sarmiento-
Paredes, 2017). Regardless of the context, the fundamental premise for the introduction of sustainable
development in state policies must be examined from the theory of systems, evaluating it in the non-
decreasing function of its inputs and outputs, with evolutionary and increasingly demanding concepts
and measurements, based on a drastic change of people's culture, with binding state policies concerning
all the dynamic and indissoluble relationships of the variables of environmental sustainability. Some of
these interdependencies can probably be temporarily bypassed, but history shows that before long, some
alarm or crisis calls for a return to the path of sustainable development.
While it is true that this article addresses sustainable development based on three dimensions (Artaraz,
2001), a reductionist and non-systemic perspective, which for many researchers has a utilitarian
approach, it is urgent to evaluate the interdependencies between the three pillars, wherein a prevalent
analysis it establishes that social welfare and economic welfare nurture each other in correspondence
of univocal relationships and that they only become sustainable within a balanced and sustainable
ecosystem in time and space (Carro-Suárez & Sarmiento-Paredes, 2017). It is fundamental to understand
complexity, based on the systemic model of sustainability (Kammerbauer, 2001), considering dynamic,
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
48 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
diuse relationships with a lot of uncertainty, since the stakeholders have conicting interests and with
a constitutive dominance of utilitarianism that intends to use the construct of Sustainable Development
to perpetuate the market economy.
2.2.1. ECONOMIC DIMENSION
In the last decades, it can be observed that there has been a tendency to invoke the international
community to develop state policies oriented to the sustainable development of countries. However,
the term development alludes to its traditional context, economic development, which generates a
conict of interests between economic activity and the environment, with imprudent and foolish actions,
such as assuming that nature is an inexhaustible source of resources and a bottomless sink for waste.
Consequently, one of the weaknesses that must be reversed to achieve sustainable development is to
rethink the structure of the state in such a way that the society-economy-environment triad restructures
its principles from a market economy towards an environmental economy that can determine the
guidelines of the modes of production, industrialization, and commercialization within environmental
rationality in a relentless search for social equity (Carro-Suárez & Sarmiento-Paredes, 2017). Among the
factors that energize the irrational utilitarian Peruvian economy is the culture with a lack of national
identity, the lack of knowledge generation, which leads to technological obsolescence of the productive
capacity of agribusiness, poor land-use planning, which has been exacerbated by environmental conicts
generated by mining with a purely extractive approach, the lack of competitiveness at the global level,
are the main factors responsible for the poor management of agriculture in Peru (Gavito et al., 2017).
The economic dimension from the sustainability approach should not continue to operate under the
principle that nature is innite and always tends to rebalance itself. The articulation of the economy-
society-environment triad without prevalence levels (Balvanera et al., 2017) should lead us to propose
models or paradigms under the perspective of environmental accounting where prevention comes before
remediation. The practical vision of the ecological problem is to reduce pollution and, in any case,
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
49 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
manage it for the nal deposition considering the most negligible environmental impact. Within the eld
of an economy that assumes ecological liabilities, what is intended is the constant search for sustainable
alternatives with atomic eciency, use of renewable energies within a closed system of production.
About ecological economics (Castiblanco, 2007) argues that "it is a scientic discipline that integrates
elements of economics, ecology, thermodynamics, ethics, and other natural and social sciences to provide
an integrated and biophysical perspective of the interactions that are interwoven between economy and
environment." (p. 8)
2.2.2. SOCIAL DIMENSION
It can be considered one of the least addressed pillars in discussions in international forums on sustainable
development. Lehtonen (2004) argues that the human talent capabilities approach and social capital
are the underlying bases of the social dimension. However, their practical implementation is not fully
realized, even though these approaches propose a cultural partner articulation that should consider social
sustainability, based on equity, which should be a transversal axis or the center of the social dimension
and, in this perspective, intergenerational equity (Lehtonen, 2004) should be considered as an additional
factor. Likewise, it is not enough to view social conuences about the dynamics of socio-environmental
conicts and consider citizen participation with legitimate and horizontally based dialogue among
stakeholders as a binding condition for environmental sustainability. It should be emphasized that
discussion must begin by recognizing the perversity of the inequitable distribution of resources between
business people and society and between man and nature.
Finally, of the seventeen objectives of sustainable development, it can be armed that equity, social
justice, and environmental conservation are the fundamental pillars of sustainable development and
these three objectives constitute part of the social dimension of sustainable development, with equity
and ecological integrity being recent, where the rst is one of the principles extensively studied because
it is a global problem that requires solutions on a local-regional-international and intergenerational scale
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
50 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
and is based on responsible management based on respect for all forms of ecosystemic life, preventing
or mitigating all environmental problems, reducing inequality, the main problem in society due to the
exploitation and degradation of man and therefore of the environment. Currently, eorts are being
made to promote socio-culturally integrated communities, inclusive of the human-nature dyad, thus
providing access to social and environmental justice as the underlying basis for a genuinely lasting
sustainable development.
2.2.3. ECOLOGICAL DIMENSION
A relevant premise for analyzing ecological sustainability is the second principle of thermodynamics
related to the tendency of systems to move spontaneously towards equilibrium (Kammerbauer, 2001).
However, the complex character of ecosystems does not admit Cartesian generalizations about states of
peace projected by man (Kay, 1991, cited in Kammerbauer, 2001).
Again, from the position assumed in the present research of moderate anthropocentrism, concerning
this dimension, sustainability presumes an accounting that also values environmental assets and
liabilities, with a sound and productive circular system, trying to imitate nature (Alvarado et al., 2020). In
other words, it is urgent to introduce eco-designs in the modes of production based on rationality and
environmental awareness.
The ecological dimension of sustainable development, about human beings, refers to the set of values,
attitudes, and motivations that should govern the relations between society and nature and how these
relations should be translated into systems of production and management of rational and closed-cycle
productive resources, as well as in the regulation of individual and group behavior of humans, based on
the consideration of all forms of ecosystemic life.
In the context of dierent social processes that perpetuate inequity and awareness of the confrontation
between man and nature to the detriment of the environmental dimension of sustainable development,
it is urgent to consider that the availability and potentiality of biogenetic resources are not innite,
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
51 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
nor that nature is a sink for its residues and that the uncontrolled predatory eects of natural man are
reaching a state in which there is no return and nature and its internal ecological balance cycles will take
actions to reestablish it without considerations of preservation of man and his future generations.
In this context, man's concepts of subsistence and entrepreneurial action must change his compulsive
habits of consumption, which must undergo a metamorphosis of all his social systems of organization,
production, commercialization, consumption, accumulation, transformation, and management of
natural resources; as well as the deployment of his creative capacity to project himself beyond time and
space always with considerations for otherness. At the same time, the concept of nature must include
all sources and vital cycles of energy and biogenesis and other challenges that consider all living species,
integrating everything in a single process of ecosystemic interrelations.
The decontextualization of the economy based on neoliberal utilitarianism has led to the unsustainability
of the modern economy, and it is not enough to associate in the order of prevalence, the economy-
ecology, or economy-social context binomial. Still, it is necessary to recover the web of dynamic and
complex relationships of the economy-social context-ecology triad (Paredes et al., 2020). This article
argues that recovering a contextual understanding of the economy is essential for sustainability. Indeed,
the loss of the ecosystemic context is at the root of the unsustainability of our current economic activity.
It is not enough to recover only the ecological or social context in which economic activity takes place.
Sustainability challenges us to recover the links of a dynamic nature between the three dimensions of
sustainable development (Kammerbauer, 2001).
2.3. SCHINUS MOLLE
The molle, called the Peru tree, is appreciated as a plant native to Peru that covered the entire region
of Tahuantinsuyo at the time of the Inca Empire. During the conquest and the viceroyalty, it spread
to Ecuador, Chile, and Bolivia and the North to Mexico and the USA. The molle grows naturally in
the Peruvian Andes and is necessary for reforestation of very degraded areas because it resists drought,
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
52 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
frost, slightly saline soils, and is not edible for livestock. It also thrives in stony soils and contributes to soil
formation. It is ideal for use as a windbreak defense and in the registration of soil erosion. It is a wild tree
that does not need irrigation for its growth usually grows next to the Tara or Guarango plant creating
fencing structures as shade in parks, green areas, roads (Bautista, 2018).
It is widespread in Peru. Schinus molle Linnaeus grows in full sun in temperate and dry subtropical regions
and develops in areas from sea level to 3500 masl. The average annual temperature for its development
is 15-20 °C, with an average yearly rainfall of 300-360 mm. However, it tolerates warmer temperatures
and, once established, is extremely drought tolerant. It is also resistant to frost and temperatures as low
as -10 °C. In nature, it occurs in semi-arid wastelands, riverbanks, along riverbanks, and on slopes up
to 2,400 m altitude. Sandy and well-drained soils are preferred, but it is tolerant to saturated, poorly
drained and infertile soils. It is also susceptible to alkalinity and salinity. Molle plantations have shallow
roots and can be fragile; therefore, they are likely to blow over or break their branches in solid wind
and need protection from wind. According to the family to which the plant belongs, the edaphological
conditions and the ripening stage of the fruits contain up to 5 % of essential oils in fruits and 2 % in
leaves (Bautista, 2018).
2.3.1. SCHINUS MOLLE ESSENTIAL OIL
They are odoriferous volatile liquid fractions, generally obtained by steam distillation, maceration,
extraction by supercritical uids, and constituted by a complex mixture of terpenoid compounds whose
most important applications are in the cosmetics industry, fragrances, and as a avoring agent in the culinary
industry (Bautista, 2018). The fruit and leaves of Schinus molle contain many bioactive compounds
with pharmacological properties proven in multiple investigations in Peru, Mexico, among other Latin
American countries. Forty-six compounds were identied by gas chromatography in the essential oil
obtained by steam distillation of Schinus molle fruits, including nine monoterpene hydrocarbons, one
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
53 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
aromatic compound, one aliphatic acid ester, two monoterpene esters, 16 sesquiterpene hydrocarbons,
and 17 other sesquiterpenoids (Bernhard et al., 1983, cited in Lim, 2016).
The essential oil composition of Schinus molle fruits reports that the main compounds are 46.52 %
-phellandrene, 20.81 % -phellandrene, 8.38 % -terpineol, 4.34 % pinene, 4.96 % -pinene, and 2.49 %
p-cymene, respectively (Bendaoud et al., 2010, cited in Lim, 2016).
2.3.2. USES OF SHINUS MOLLE
Among the most appropriate uses of the leaves or fruits can be mentioned as a avoring agent because
the whole plant has an intense characteristic odor due to essential oils. The cooking of leaves, branches,
bark, and root is used for pale yellow dyeing of wool fabrics when alum is used as mordant, and the
tonality can be changed, according to the type of mordant used (Bautista, 2018). The methanolic
extract of Schinus molle leaves produces a complex mixture of metabolites, mainly constituted by 12
sesquiterpenoids, six tirucallane-type triterpenoids, and four avonoids isolated from Schinus molle fruits
exhibited antioxidant activity (Ono et al., 2008, cited in Lim, 2016). Among them, three avonoids
exhibited antioxidant activity almost identical to -tocopherol by the ferric thiocyanate method. One
avonoid showed a more substantial radical scavenging eect on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl than that
of -tocopherol.
Among the pharmacological activities, the components of Schinus molle essential oil exhibits cytotoxic
activity against a human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (Lim, 2016). Also, the hexane extract of
Schinus molle leaves produces antidepressant-like eects that seem to depend on its interaction with
serotonergic, noradrenergic, and dopaminergic systems (Machado et al., 2007, 2008, cited in Lim, 2016).
Further research indicated that the antidepressant-like eect of Schinus molle ethanolic extract is due to
the presence of avonoids, which was postulated to exert its antidepressant-like impact by increasing the
availability of serotonin and noradrenaline in the synaptic cleft (Lim, 2016).
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
54 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
The main pharmacological activity of Schinus molle essential oil is an antimicrobial activity because
Schinus molle leaf oil exhibited maximum fungi harmful activity during the screening of some essential
oils against some shared storage and animal pathogenic fungi (Bautista, 2018). On the other hand, the
essential oil showed eective toxicity against animal pathogens and mild activity against storage fungi
(Lim, 2016).
3. METHODOLOGY
According to the study's purposes, the type of research is classied as applied research. It is proposed
to use the fundamentals of sustainable development to make proposals on an ecient and sustainable
design of production and commercialization of products based on essential oils.
The level of research is explanatory-causal because the objective is to study the inuence of an ecient
and sustainable design of production and commercialization of products based on Schinus molle essential
oil on the perceptions about the environmental sustainability of this type of agroecological business.
The research method used is hypothetical-deductive. It is intended to test the inuence of an ecient and
sustainable design of production and commercialization of products based on Schinus molle essential oil
on perceptions of environmental sustainability.
The research design is pre-experimental. This type of design was carried out with a pre-test and
post-test after applying for the training program in an ecient and sustainable model of production
and commercialization of products based on Schinus molle essential oil to evaluate the variation of
perceptions of environmental sustainability. The pre-experimental designs present a minimum degree of
control, the manipulation of the independent variable is produced and what is intended is to observe its
eects on the dependent variable. It should be noted that the dierence with pure experimental designs
is centered on the reliability assumed when establishing the control and experimental groups, according
to Hernández et al. (2014), in this type of design, randomization is not introduced when assigning the
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
55 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
experimental group since, due to logistical or other needs, unrelated to the experiment, they are chosen
in a non-random manner. Therefore, the groups established for the research are not randomized and
were covered by the quota sampling technique.
The formal and logical representation is:
Legend:
X = Experimental variable: training program in the ecient and sustainable product design and
commercialization of products based on Schinus molle essential oil.
O1 = Pre-test measurements: Environmental sustainability.
O2 = Post-test measurements: Environmental sustainability.
3.1. SAMPLE
3.1.1. PLANT SAMPLE
Schinus molle fruits were collected in the month of July 2019 in Huayucachi-Huancayo Junín,
Luricocha-Huanta-Ayacucho, Huayllan-Pomabamba-Ancash, with a total weight of 50 kg (see Table 1).
The protocol for each sample collected was to wash with potable water and dry outdoors for six days.
After the natural drying time, they were packed in thick paper and cardboard box, to be sent to the
Organic Chemistry laboratory of the Faculty of Chemical Engineering of the Universidad Nacional de
Ingeniería. Finally, the sample was received at the organic chemistry laboratory, registering a net weight
of 40 kg.
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
56 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
Table 1. Molle fruit harvesting zones.
ID Plant Family Part used Place of collection
The initial
weight of
collected
sample Weight
of dry sample*
Importance
of dehulled
and sieved
sample*.
1Shinus
molle
Anacardia-
ceae Fruits Huayucachi-Huancayo
Junín 10 kg 9,4 kg 8,0 kg
2Shinus
molle
Anacardia-
ceae Fruits Luricocha-Huanta
Ayacucho 8 kg 7,5 kg 6,4 kg
3Shinus
molle
Anacardia-
ceae Fruits Huayllan-Pomabam-
ba-Ancash 7 kg 6,6 kg 5,6 kg
4Shinus
molle
Anacardia-
ceae Fruits Peso total de fruto de
Shinus molle a procesar 25 kg 23,5 kg 20 kg
Source: own elaboration.
3.1.2. STAKEHOLDER SAMPLE
Considering that the stakeholder population is limited due to the sui generis nature of the project, in
the context of Covid-19, the target population was limited to small farmers-producers, natural product
marketers, technicians from the municipalities related to the MYPES, and students of engineering and
careers related to agriculture and its processing, which were convened by a digital marketing system via
Facebook, reaching 300 participants. Therefore, the sample chosen was non-probabilistic and consisted
of 94 participants who gave their informed consent.
3.2. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY INSTRUMENT
The development of the instrument was based on the research of Silva-Santamaría and Ramírez-
Hernández (2017), Becerril (2017), and De Los Rios-Carmenado et al. (2016), whose instruments
were developed from others that have been used over the last 20 years in research on environmental
sustainability, within the approach of the three most relevant dimensions of sustainable development:
the economic dimension formed by three factors that collect information on productivity, producer
welfare, and marketing; the social size that collect information on two factors, local-regional government
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
57 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
and stakeholders and the ecological extent constituted by a single factor related to the sustainability of
the project in general terms.
In developing the instrument, a self-application questionnaire was designed with a bipolar Likert scale,
ranging from never to always with a total of 48 items. In addition to the three cross-cutting dimensions
of environmental sustainability, the sociographic aspects of the sample elements were also considered.
The analysis of the instrument's internal consistency was statistically calculated by Cronbach's alpha
with the SPSS-Statistics software, having carried out the verication by factors, dimensions, and by all
the information collected by the instrument. Cronbach's alpha values are between 0.812 and 0.934,
values between acceptable and high for research works of this nature (Hernández et al., 2014). It should
be noted that the correlations of the instrument-ecological dimension binomial are positive and more
signicant than the instrument-social dimension correlations, which in turn are higher than that of the
instrument-economic dimension. Considering that the sample elements are constituted by 94 persons
to whom the instrument has been applied in a pre-test and post-test, the internal consistency analysis
indicates that the self-application of the device presents high internal consistency and high reliability of
its results.
3.3. EXPERIMENTAL PART
3.3.1. EXTRACTION OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL
The experimental procedure for molle essential oil extraction was carried out with batches of 3.6 kg of
molle fruits, an average molle actual oil extraction volume of 215.2 mL, and an average extraction yield
of 4.8 % by mass.
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
58 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
250,0
200,0
150,0
100,0
50,0
0,0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Figure 1. Extraction prole of Schinus molle L. essential oil.
Source: own elaboration.
The extraction procedure was carried out with steam extraction equipment with internal steam
production of 16 L capacity. After a preliminary treatment of washing, drying, dehulling, and grinding,
ground molle fruit with a particle diameter < 4 mm, an average bulk density of 0.42 kg/L, and a power
of 2000 W was obtained. Figure 1 shows the prole of the extraction curve extrapolating an average
extraction time of 35 minutes, the optimum time of 21 minutes for the extraction of 97 % of the
essential oil.
3.3.2. GREEN BUSINESS MODEL VALUE CHAIN
The proposed production microindustrialization commercialization model is framed within the robust
sustainability paradigm where "the substitutability of natural capital is seriously limited by ecological
characteristics such as integrity, irreversibility, uncertainty and the existence of critical components of
natural capital that make a unique contribution to human well-being" (Castiblanco, 2015, p. 4).
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
59 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
The present research aims to establish a closed-cycle production and commercialization model about
minimizing waste production and, in any case, to manage it for its reincorporation into the productive
chain. This approach is framed within the guidelines of the eco-ecient output. It is aimed at promoting
manufacturing processes based on prevention rather than remediation, where eco-eciency is evaluated
at each stage of the process about reducing energy and water consumption and reducing waste generation
and, last but not least, to the proposal of adequate waste management until the formation of compost,
closing the production cycle sustainably and sustainably, oering competitive products about quality.
Figure 2 shows the ow diagram of the closed-loop production cycle of the value chain of the business
model based on the molle essential oil.
Ecosystem Manufacture
Ecoagriculture
Composting Sustainability
indicators
Molle
essential oil
Products of the
value chain
Harvesting of
molle fruits
Molle
plantations
Figure 2. Model for efcient and sustainable production and marketing of molle essential oil and its commercial products.
Source: own elaboration.
In this context, we intend to contribute a grain of sand to the training of farmer-entrepreneurs in the
central region of Peru, who require technical assistance to solve challenging problems, forge, outline
prototypes and discover sustainable solutions, which is why they must add environmental, social and
economic value to their proposals.
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
60 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
Figure 3. Closed production model for commercial products.
Source: own elaboration.
Figure 3 shows the production diagram of the whole business model. The agroecological model's
sustainability is aliated with a series of formalisms that include social, environmental, and economic
aspects of the system (Castiblanco, 2015). The business model based on sustainable agriculture is based on
an integrated management system of organic agricultural production processes, in that molle plantations
do not require chemical pest control, maintain productivity naturally, protect green areas from pollution,
robust rural smallholder farming systems (Altiere, 2018). The proposal is based on promoting, in a
self-managed manner and with the support of academia and civil society, business models established
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
61 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
based on natural agricultural resources under sustainable agriculture (Silva-Santamaría & Ramírez-
Hernández, 2017).
Figure 3 shows the production cycle of Schinus molle essential oil and its transformation into commercial
products within a closed process. The model is based on forming strategic alliances with agricultural
associations, trade associations, state agencies, and universities. The value chain focuses on quality
culture, which implies continuous technological and commercial development and innovation.
4. RESULTS
4.1. RESULTS ON THE ECONOMIC DIMENSION
Table 2 shows the descriptive statistics of the factors that make up the economic dimension, productivity,
farmer welfare, and marketing, indicating a positive evolution of perceptions from the pre-test to the
post-test.
Table 2. Descriptive statistics between the factors of the economic dimension.
Factors Factor: productivity Factor: Farmer welfare Factor: marketing Total average of the
economic dimension
Type of
test Pre-test Post-test Pre-test Post-test Pre-test Post-test Pre-test Post-test
Mean 3,10 3,22 3,60 3,77 3,83 4,01 3,37 3,58
Median 3,17 3,22 3,67 3,83 4,00 4,00 3,45 3,60
Mode 3,00 3,11 3,67 3,67 4,00 4,00 3,80 3,35
Std. Dev. 0,81 0,68 0,89 0,61 0,93 0,61 0,78 0,49
Source: own elaboration.
Figure 4 shows the box-and-whisker plot for the results of the total economic dimension. Again, the
graph shows an increase in the median relative to the perception between the pre-test and post-test on
the green business model approach.
3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. ISSN: 2254-3376 Ed. 48 Vol. 10 N.º 4 Noviembre 2021 - Febrero 2022
62 https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2021.100448.43-75
5,00
4,00
3,00
2,00
1,00
,00
pre-test post-test
Type of data: pre-test and post-test
*21
43
24
161
Total average of the economic dimension
Figure 4. Box-and-whisker plot for the economic dimension.
Source: own elaboration.
The application of median comparisons with the Wilcoxon test for related samples shows a value of the
Wilcoxon statistic of Z= - 1.646 with Sig. = 0.100. The statistical test shows no statistically signicant
evidence to reject the null hypothesis of equality of medians. Consequently, it can be stated that there
is no statistically reliable evidence to assume that the implementation of training programs in green
business models inuences the perception of the economic dimension of the instrument.
This result is related to the fact that green projects do not have a utilitarian media purpose; their objectives
are medium or long term because, based on the knowledge of the consumption practices of the 21st
century, the entrepreneurs of this type of project have a higher degree of environmental awareness and
replace paradigms of media capitalization projects by others of capitalization in sustainable green assets
in the future (Castañeda, 2014).