How Essential Oils are obtained
There are numbers of ways by which essential oils are obtained and they include:-
Distillation
First of all, generally used essential oils like peppermint, lavender and eucalyptus are refined. Raw plant material contains leaves, seeds, wood and flowers are kept into an apparatus on the top of the water. When the water heats up, the steam is passed through the plant material and makes the unpredictable compounds vaporized. Then these fumes get converted into a liquid and accumulated in the pot.
Expression
Some of the citrus peel oils are cold-pressed or extracted involuntarily. Citrus-fruit oils are economical as compared to some of the essential oils. Sweet orange oils or lemons that are the derivatives of the profitable citrus industry are also not very expensive.
Solvent Extraction
Some of the flowers include slight volatile oil and their elements are very subtle and are simply denatured by the extreme heat utilized in steam distillation. Rather a solvent like supercritical carbon dioxide or hexane is utilized to take out the oils.
Essential Oils Used in Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is a kind of herbal medicine which is also derived from the plant extracts and essential oils. These essential oils contain medicinal properties which have been utilized in various medicines since the past and are also extensively utilized in the present world. These oils also have an elevating effect on the mind.
Solvents
Essential oils are generally lipophilic compounds. It has been proved that organic solvents like acetone and alcohols like ethanol and methanol are considered as the best diluents. Water is not termed as oil as the oil does not dissolve in water. Risks of Using Essential Oils
As the essential oils are rigorous in nature; therefore, they should not be used straightly on the skin. If the essential oils are applied directly, then they can generate an allergic reaction or severe irritation. Essential oils should be combined with vegetable carrier oil and then it should be used. Some of the commonly used carrier oils are hazelnut, olive and grape seed oil.
Essential Oil Quality
Essential Oil Purity and Analytical Testing
When essential oils are used for health or therapeutic purposes, it is imperative that they are pure and of high-quality. At best, using adulterated or poor-quality essential oils may result in no therapeutic benefit, and at worst, may result in unexpected toxic reactions.
Essential oils are complex mixtures of many different chemical constituents. The composition of a given oil can be affected by every step in production, including growing and harvesting conditions, distillation technique, essential oil handling and storage conditions. In addition, some unscrupulous distillers or sellers alter essential oils by diluting, cutting, or extending them, and then sell them as “pure.”
Even those oils that are produced and handled carefully will change over time as they age. Some oils, such as rose, patchouli, spikenard, and myrrh, improve as they age, but others, notably the citrus oils, oxidize and can become irritating and toxic with age.
Given all of these factors, it can be extremely difficult to ensure the quality of an essential oil, because it may have passed through many hands before it reaches the consumer. There are a few techniques for analyzing essential oil composition and purity, but bear in mind that there is no technique available which can analyze oil so thoroughly as to absolutely guarantee its composition and purity.
Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS)
GC/MS is the most frequently used technique for analyzing essential oil composition. This method of testing requires an analytical component, a gas chromatograph, coupled with a detection component, a mass spectrometer.
A small sample of an essential oil is introduced into the GC, where it is heated to vapor and then carried along a column by an inert gas, such as helium. As the vaporized oil passes through the column, it separates into individual molecular constituents as it interacts with the stationary phase of the column. The separated constituents then pass into the MS. In the MS module, the constituents become charged, or ionized. The ionized constituents are then amplified and detected as current by the MS.
Each constituent is represented by a peak in a chromatograph, and the peaks can be compared to a library of molecules to identify the substance. Even though a GC/MS can produce a “fingerprint” of an oil, it can not detect some synthetic and natural diluents. It can, however, detect a mixture of two or more similar oils, an oil that has had the terpenes removed, an oil that has been rectified, and traces of solvents or mineral oils.
High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
HPLC is another technique that may be used to analyze essential oils. HPLC may be used to separate an essential oil into fractions, as preparation for analysis by another technique. It can also be used by itself to analyze the non-volatile fractions of the essential oil.
In liquid chromatography, a liquid solvent carries the essential oil through a column packed with tiny particles of a solid, stationary phase. The different components in the essential oil slow down and separate as they pass through the stationary phase, and each component is detected as a peak in the chromatograph.
ESSENTIAL OIL PROFILES
Essential oil is a product obtained from natural raw materials, either by distillation with water or stem, or from the epicarp of citrus fruits by mechanical processing, or by dry distillation. The essential oil is subsequently separated from the aqueous phase by physical means.
Essential Oils are volatile and can be used for therapeutic treatment. It is best to use essential oils as external remedies only. They blend well with oils and ointments suited to external application, which are absorbed readily through the skin and vaporize easily for inhalation.
Natural Essential Oils Vs Synthetics.
The objective of the artificial fragrance is to duplicate the scent of the flower and not that of the essential oil. it has to be emphasized that synthetic fragrances do not have any of the therapeutic properties of the essential oil. Natural Essential Oils have a life force, an additional impulse which can only be found in essential oils extracted from parts of plants.
Evaluation Of Essential Oils
Essential Oils should be evaluated in terms of:
- Odour quality
- Odour intensity
- Changes of Odour on evaporation
- Diffusiveness of Odour
Essential Oils Safety Guidelines
Sensitive Skin: A few essential oils may cause skin irritation, for those people who have very sensitive skin. Put a few drops of the essential oil mixed with the base oil on the skin, and put a plaster on the same. Leave for a hour. If irritation or redness occurs, reduce the concentration of the oil by adding more of the base oil.
- Some essential oils are photo toxic; they cause skin pigmentation when exposed to direct sunlight. Angelica root, bergamot, cumin, ginger, lemon, lime, love age, mandarin and verbena are few such essential oils. Neat Application essential oils must always be applied by diluting it in carrier oil. Oils such as lavender, ylang and sandalwood can be used directly.
- Avoid hyssop, rosemary, sage and thyme if suffering from high blood pressure
- Avoid fennel, hyssop, rosemary and sage essential oils if suffering from epilepsy, as they have powerful action on the nervous system.
- During pregnancy its best not to use any essential oils, because of the sensitivity of the growing child.
Avoid angelica oil in case of diabetes
How Essential Oils are used in therapeutic treatment?
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Some Aromatherapy Essential Oils
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- Basil Essential Oil
- Bergamot Essential Oil
- Black Pepper Essential Oil
- Carrot Seed Essential Oil
- Cedar Wood Essential Oil
- Chamomile Essential Oil
- Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oil
- Citriodora Essential Oil
- Citronella Essential Oil
- Clary Sage Essential Oil
- Clove-bud Essential Oil
- Cypress Essential Oil
- Eucalyptus Essential Oil
- Frankincense Essential Oil
- Ginger Essential oil
- Juniper Berry Essential Oil
- Lavandin Essential Oil
- Lavender Essential Oil
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- Lemon Essential Oil
- Lemon Grass Essential Oil
- Lime Essential Oil
- Neroli Essential Oil
- Nutmeg Essential Oil
- Palmarosa Essential Oil
- Patchouli essential Oil
- Peppermint Essential Oil
- Rose Essential Oil
- Rose Geranium Essential Oil
- Rosemary Essential Oil
- Sandal Wood Essential Oil
- Sweet Orange Essential Oil
- Tea Tree Essential Oil
- Thyme Essential Oil
- Vetivert Essential Oil
- Wintergreen Essential Oil
- Ylang Ylang Essential Oil
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