|
Post by Dragonmaster on Apr 4, 2009 23:04:40 GMT 1
Here is the first part. I'm dividing it into several posts to make it easier to read. please don't put posts on this thread yourselves, use the General Thread or your own. Words in bold are there because you may need to use them in your assignment answers or for further research. Tomorrow I will put up the assignment.
|
|
|
Post by Dragonmaster on Apr 4, 2009 23:07:13 GMT 1
WHAT ARE ESSENTIAL OILS? When you pop into the chemists and buy a little bottle of Lavender, what are you getting? When you buy lavender scented perfume, bubble bath, talc, what are you getting? Why do you buy lavender oil or lavender water perfume? What do you hope to get from the contents of the bottle? Do you actually have any idea what the difference is, or even that there is a difference? Have you ever even given these questions a thought before I have just asked them? Why are they “Essential”? Can’t we live without them? The name ‘essential oil’ derives from the word ‘essence’; these little bottles contain a liquid that can be said to be the ‘essence’ of the plant they came from. In fact the word ‘oil’ is not even factually correct, because most essential oils are not actually oils or oily. The term has come about because to be able to massage a person with these scented liquids they had to be mixed with a ‘carrier’ which was usually a vegetable oil such as Olive Oil. I don’t propose to go into the history of the use of scented oils and Aromatherapy on this course but for your own information I suggest you Google ‘Rene Gattefosse’. I will just say that scented oils, what we now call Essential Oils, have been used therapeutically for thousands of years. Aromatherapy Oils, or Essential Oils, are all made from plants and as such are totally organic (in the same way that all vegetables are ‘organic’ whether or not they have been grown ‘Organically’ to be sold at a premium in the supermarket) and not synthetic as are most of the drugs we take. As plants contain many different chemicals according to their nature so the oils produced from them contain the same complex cocktail of chemicals, but in a highly concentrated form. To take Chamomile as an example, if you make chamomile tea from a commercially produced tea bag you will get the chemical constituents of the plant in a very diluted form, however it will still be beneficial, but ONE DROP of Chamomile Essential Oil will be far more potent than the whole cup of tea. A word of warning – Essential Oils should never be taken internally – don’t try making chamomile tea from the Essential Oil! Essential Oils are often described as being ‘volatile’ because they evaporate fairly quickly on contact with the air.
|
|
|
Post by Dragonmaster on Apr 4, 2009 23:10:48 GMT 1
HOW OILS ARE PRODUCED. There are several methods by which oil is extracted from plant material, and the method used is dictated by the type of plant. Most oils are made by steam distillation where huge quantities of the plant are placed in a vat and steam is forced through from the bottom. Use Google Images to find a diagram, enter ‘steam distillation’. The steam then passes through a condenser and the resulting liquid drains into a collection vat. The Essence being less dense than water forms a layer on the top and can be drawn off, the water that remains has picked up some of the properties and aroma of the plant being distilled and the same water is used several times over to increase this. The resulting liquid is called a hydrosol and is also called a flower water such as lavender water or rose water which are often used as perfumes themselves. All citrus fruits have oil in the rind. You only have to run your thumbnail into the skin of an orange to see the oil. Many citrus oils are used in aromatherapy and the oil is extracted from the peel by expression which is basically just squeezing. Imagine an industry in an orange growing area such as Florida where the oranges are harvested, the pulp taken out by machine and made into juice and the peel is put in huge presses to extract the oil. Most orange and lemon oil gained this way is used in manufacturing cakes and biscuits, therapeutic grade citrus oils will be made in smaller batches by specialist operators. However as the oil in citrus peel is plentiful and easy to extract citrus oils tend to be relatively inexpensive. There are two methods of extraction that use fat or oil to absorb the essence from flowers. Enfleurage is usually used for the tiny but heavily scented jasmine flowers which are laid on racks of cold fat until the fat is saturated, maceration is where flowers are repeatedly dipped in hot fat or oil. The result of both these methods is a block of cold fat that is saturated with flower essence. This is called a pomade and is washed in alcohol which is then evaporated to release the oils. The final, and probably a very commonly used method these days, is solvent extraction. A heated solvent such as petroleum is used to extract the oils from the plant and then it is filtered, making something called a concrete which is then treated the same way as the pomade resulting from enfleurage and maceration. This is a relatively cheap and effective way of extracting oils from plants but the method tends to affect the chemistry of the resulting essences so people using oils therapeutically generally prefer not to use those that have been made this way.
|
|
|
Post by Dragonmaster on Apr 4, 2009 23:13:08 GMT 1
QUALITY OF ESSENTIAL OILS Many factors affect the quality of an oil. Essential oils work because of the delicate balance of chemicals they bring with them from the plant but this balance can be upset by a number of things. „« The method of extraction (as above). „« The variety of the plant. For example there are many types of lavender (just go to a garden centre) but only lavendula offiinalis and lavendula angustifolium produce therapeutic grade oil. There is a hybrid lavender called lavandin which yields large quantities of highly perfumed oil and this is generally used in the perfume industry but it¡¦s therapeutic effects differ from true lavender, for example it is less sedative. However it is sometimes sold as lavender, or it is mixed with true lavender to make it go further (cheaper) . „« Growing conditions. Continuing with lavender as our example, this is grown in several places in England, Norfolk Lavender being the most well known. These lavender fields produce soaps and perfumes and other gift items but the weather in the UK is not warm enough to produce good therapeutic oil. Most aromatherapy lavender is grown in Provence, France, where the soil quality and air temperature is just right. A lot of producers now also grow their plants Organically for the same reasons that we might want organically grown fruit and vegetables. (it is also worth pointing out here that when choosing a supplier to purchase oils from you might also like to consider Fair Trade issues) „« Adulteration and synthetic oils. Some people out there want to make as much profit as possible by making an inferior product cheaply but charging the price for quality. some of the more expensive oils, such as Rose, can be mixed with other oils that are cheaper but have a similar aroma, so most people will not detect the difference. By far the biggest market for scented oils is the perfume industry where the exact same scent is required and not the therapeutic effects. Therefore large quantities of oils are produced in laboratories, either as genuine plant oils but made for perfume or as completely synthetic perfumes. These sometimes find their way onto the market as Pure Essential Oils - and technically they are. Blended oils. There is nothing wrong with a blended oil providing you know that is what you are buying, but if the 10ml bottle of Rose Oil on the shop shelf is more or less the same price as the lavender look for the small print. Because some oils such as rose are so expensive they are not usually sold in the High Street, however they will be sold as a 10% blend, that is a few drops in a base carrier oil. This means it is ready to use on your skin and won't need to be further diluted but it will not be suitable to use in an oil burner. It should say on the label either '100% pure Essential Oil' or '5% / 10% blend in grapeseed'.
|
|
|
Post by Dragonmaster on Apr 5, 2009 23:38:11 GMT 1
First Assignment. Please answer the four questions. You can email me your replies or put them on your thread.
ASSIGNMENT ONE 1. What is an Essential oil? Write a definition in a short sentence. 2. Who was Rene Gattefosse and what did he do that is significant in modern Aromatherapy? 3. Write a short description of one method of extracting the Essential Oil from plant material. 4. What factors would you take into consideration when choosing a supplier to buy Essential Oils from?
|
|