Essential oils

An essential oil - liquid extracts from plants, which are called aromatic herbs or aromatic plants and from some other materials (as lichens, honey etc.). This pressed, distilled or extracted substances containing volatile aroma compounds, mainly hydrophobic (terpenes, terpeniods, benzene derivates (aromatic compounds), aldehydes, organic acids etc.).

• Essential oils also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant material from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. The traditional name essential oil indicates that the oil carries distinctive scent (essence) of the plant, not that it is an especially important or fundamental substance.

Production

Distillation

See also: distillation

Some common essential oils, such as lavender, peppermint, tea-tree and eucalyptus, are distilled. Raw plant material, consisting of the flowers, leaves, wood, bark, roots, seeds, or peel, is put into an alembic (distillation apparatus) over water. As the water is heated the steam passes through the plant material, vaporizing the volatile compounds. The vapors flow through a coil where they condense back to liquid, which is then collected in the receiving vessel.

See also

• Terpene and Terpenoids
• Alternative medicine
• Aromatherapy
• Enfleurage
• Fragrance oil
• List of essential oils
• Volatility (chemistry)