What are essential oils?
Strictly speaking essential oils are the aromatic volatile lipid-soluble portion of the fluids of a plant containing odiferous compounds. They can come from any part of a plant including, but not limited to, the stems, branches, fruits, flowers, seeds roots, bark, needles and leaves.
Essential oils can contain hundreds of different compounds and to date no essential oil has had all of its compounds identified. They can contain an infinite combination of alcoholc, esters, aldehydes, ketones, acids, mono-, sesqui-, di- and tetra- terpenes.
For example orange oil (Citrus sinensis) contains:
- 34 alcohols
- 30 esters
- 20 aldehydes
- 14 ketones 10 carboxylic acids
- 36 varieties of terpenes
This is not all of components as no essential oil has had all of the constituents identified.
Plants produce two type of oils: essential and fatty.
Essential oils are found throughout the plant and are “essential” to the life and continued growth of the plant.
Fatty oils (called vegetable, carrier, neutral or base oils) are only found in plant seeds and nuts and are only used by the plant when it starts growing. These oils include olive, safflower, corn, soy and others.
Comparison of Fatty and Essential Oils
| Essential Oils | Fatty Oils |
|---|---|
| Distilled from Plants | Pressed from seeds |
| Not involved in seed germination and early growth | Necessary food for seeds to germinate and sprout |
| Essential to the life processes of the plant | Not essential to the life processes of the plant |
| Tiny molecules | Large Molecules |
| Molecules made of rings and short chains | Long chain molecules |
| Aromatic and volatile | Nonaromatic and nonvolatile |
| Circulates throughout the plant | Does not circulate through the plant |
| Pass through tissues, cell walls and cell membranes | Cannot pass though tissues, cell walls and cell membranes |
| Not greasy to the touch | Greasy/Oily to the touch |
| Do not spoil or turn rancid | Can spoil and turn rancid |
| Antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antiparasite, antiseptic | Not antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antiparasite, antiseptic |
Essential oils can be considered the “life blood” of the plant and performs many different functions. They circulate through the plant much as our blood does. They carry nutrients into the cells and remove waste. They act as plant hormones, regulate plant functions and regulate the production of vitamins and enzymes.
They act as neurotransmitters, peptides, steroids, hormones, enzymes, vitamins and ligands (message carrying molecules).
They also help protect the plants by killing viruses, bacteria, parasite and fungi. Some of them can deter herbivores by providing an unacceptable taste. Another function can be as an herbicide to deter unwanted competition from other plants such as cacti in the desert.
A plant can use essential oils to attract friendly animals such as humans and insects for pollination and in some cases to deal with unwanted pests
How do we get essential oils?
By strict definition all essential oils are produced through steam distillation. However to obtain essential oils from some species of plants does require other methods such as chemical solvents (absolutes) or expressed or “carbon dioxide extraction”.
Steam Distillation
Steam distillation is the process of boiling water into steam and using the steam to extract the oil from the plant parts. The steam/oil solution is then condensed into liquid form and the oil is then separated from the water. The water still retains some of the oil and is usually sold as floral water that has healing properties of its own.
Even though the temperatures and pressures are as low as possible some of the molecules in the oil will be changed into what is called artifacts. These artifacts are harmless and cannot be avoided. Anytime anything is cooked it undergoes a change. Just look at what happens to the white of an egg when it is cooked – it goes from clear to white. The changing of temperature and pressure is used to convert crude oil into diesel, gas, propane, kerosene and other “petroleum distillates”.
By using low temperature and pressures only the smallest and lightest compounds are extracted. The heavier ones are left behind.
Absolutes
Absolutes are not true essential oils, however, in some cases it is the only way to extract the oils. They are not considered true essential oils because instead of steam they use a chemical such as ethanol, methanol, benzene or hexane (all but ethanol are toxic). The essential oils extracted in this manner are sometimes called essences. They also contain a wider range of sizes in the molecules that are extracted. At the end of the process some of the chemicals used in the extraction process may be left behind.
Essential oils obtained through this method include:
- Jasmine (Jasmium officinale)
- Neroli (Citrus auruntium)
- Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia)
- Onycha (Styrax benzoin)
The reasons for using this method include the volume of essential oil produced is insufficient for steam distillation to be cost effective or that the essential oil is hard to extract in other ways.
Expressed Oils
Expressed oils are oils that extracted by mechanically pressing the plant matter. Citrus oils are obtained in this manner and although they are not essential oils by definition they are generally regarded as essential oils.
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Curt Siters
Young Living Independent Distributor #876168
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