**1. Introduction**

The genus *Jasminum*, belonging to Oleaceae or Olive family, contains over 200 species of vines or shrubs with opposite leaves and fragrant flowers [1]. The name "jasmine" or "jessamine" is derived from the Arabic and Persian "yasmin" or "yasaman" and originally referred to the species of Arabian jasmine (*Jasminum sambac* (L.) Ait) [2]. This plant, with its extremely fragrant flowers, is native to southern Asia, but it has been cultivated in the Middle East for centuries [3]. *Jasminum* is the generic name of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). Although more than 200 species are known, 40 species have been identified in India, and 20 species are cultivated in South India [4–6], of which only three species are used for commercial cultivation namely*, J. sambac* (Gundumalli/Madurai Malli), *Jasminum auriculatum* (Mullai), and *Jasminum grandiflorum* (Jathimalli/ Pitchi). The angel jasmine, *Jasminum nitidum*, with sweetly fragrant, snow-white, pinwheel-shaped flowers is recently introduced for commercial cultivation in Tamil Nadu, India.