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Article Series: Aromatherapy
Teach Me Some
Aromatherapy Benefits
How
Are Essential Oils Extracted?
The process of extracting essential oils from plants and
other scent-able things is accomplished in a variety
of ways. Probably the most common means of acquiring
these essential oils is by distillation. For those of
you that are unfamiliar with this process, it is quite
simple. The plant that the oil is being extracted from
is subjected to a steady flow of steam that seeps through
the plant’s interior. While the steam travels through
the plant, it collects the oils that are hidden inside
and turns them to vapor. While the steam flows out of
the plant, it carries the vaporized oils with it. Once
out of the plant, all one has to do in order to retrieve
the oils is cool the vapor down and the oils will return
to their original liquid form.
This process of distillation is not restricted to the plants
themselves. It can also be used on other scent-able things,
such as citrus oils. Citrus oils are taken from the fruit of
plants that are otherwise used for food. Like the plant, steam
is used, but in this case to detach the oils from the citrus
rind or peel. Although distillation extraction is less successful
with citrus (the expression method is a more productive method
for these oils) it is often employed as way of retrieving the
oils from these fruits.
Another way that one can extract essential oils from plants
and other scent-able things are by pressurization and
chemical extraction. Manufacturers that find it difficult to use the
distillation method on a larger scale often use these methods.
By pressurizing the plants, the oils are ‘squeezed out’ and
collected with the aid of special machines. As well, certain
chemicals can be applied to the plants so that the oils are
extracted by some chemical reaction that occurs when they come
in contact with the oils.
Other ways that plants and other scent-able things can have
their oils extracted involves crushing or smearing. Some plants
that produce essential oils can have their oils removed by
applying them to a fatty substance. This substance serves as
a slate onto which the oils can be smeared. Things like rose
petals can be pushed down and rubbed against this surface to
where the oils are left behind to harvest. Also, there is the
process of crushing the source of the oils in order to extract
it. For instance, citrus peels can be squashed down and pulverized
until the oils within it are separated from the rind. Or, things
such as rose petals can be collected into large quantities
to be subsequently crushed to where their oils are separated
as well.
Not all methods of extracting essential oils from plants and
other scent-able things are as simple. Many are much more complex
and involve several stages. For example, the citronella oils
necessitate a preparation of the leaves before they can be
suitable for extraction. The most frequent method for citronella
oil extraction is by distillation, as we have already discussed.
However the leaves of the citronella plants are usually left
outside of the distillery facilities for several hours, much
longer on rainy days, before distillation is even considered.
After this, of course, the steam is applied and oils are extracted.
Unfortunately, while the leaves are dried, some of the oils
are lost. This is done by simply collecting more plants for
harvesting.
A more modern, and thus safer, way of extracting essential
oils from plants and other scent-able things is by vacuum distillation.
Like distillation, it removes the oils by a vapor. However,
the boiling points of the oils needn’t be reached since a vacuum
effect is introduced into the still. 93 percent of the air
in the still (the chamber where distillation is accomplished)
is removed so that boiling can be achieved without losing some
of the oils that are typically lost in the process of traditional
distillation. As well, it is much cleaner and safer. This is
because the vacuum removes many undesirable substances. As
opposed to normal distillation, the vacuum method loses far
less of the oils. A cold plate is set in the still next to
the device that heats the substance. Very little is lost since
the condenser plate collects the vaporized oils and reintegrates
them, so that, most of the oils are retrieved. And, these are
the ways that essential oils are extracted from plants and
scent-able things.
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: 2006
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