What are Essential Oils?

You must have seen and heard of essential oils many times before reading this book. But, have you ever wondered what essential oils are. And why they are called so? Are they really essential in our life? These oils are the botanical extracts from different materials of plants. They are extracted from flowers as well as trees, herbs, and many other materials of plants.

You must be wondering what botanical material is? Well, they include a diversity of material from the vegetation which is used to obtain the essential oils. Different methods of extraction are used according to the matter in use. These oils have a very intense fragrance. Essential oils have been in use since hundreds and thousands of years by the prominent healers, who had always had faith in the healing power of such oils and extracts. They have been used for skin and cancer treatments. Though they have been sold solely on the basis of their historical reliability, but now many countries have imposed regulations on their sale and use. That is why; the application of essential oils has gone down as medicine based on evidence. If you are concerned about their medicinal use, you must confer with ancient textbooks for more information regarding their uses. The modern era has again revived the popularity of essential oils with the renewal of aromatherapy. It is a division of alternative medicine, which asserts that different aromatic compounds and essential oils have healing effects. The earliest known use of methods and techniques of producing essential oils is said to be around the 12th century.   There is a significant difference between essential oils and normal oils like olive oil (they are also called fixed oils). Essential oils evaporate if they are left open. The aroma compounds of plants are contained in the essential oils, which make them volatile. These oils are also known as ethereal oils, aether Olea, volatile oils and oil of the plant which is used for extraction like oil of rose. They have many therapeutic properties that can be utilized in promoting well-being and health.

Extraction of essential oils There is several methods of extraction of essential oils depending on the kind of plant that is in use, or which of its part are used for extraction. Some of the methods of extraction include distillation which uses steam, solvent extraction, absolute oil extraction, cold pressing, resin tapping, and expression. The industries involved in extracting essential oils use very large quantities of botanical material because some herbs, plants, and flowers yield very low amounts of oil from their concentrated oil cells.   For instance, it takes as much as 60,000 rose petals to yield just 1 ounce of real rose oil. Similarly, it takes a good deal of 800,000 handpicked flowers of jasmine to produce just a kilo of genuine jasmine oil. And some botanical materials such as sandalwood have to be aged properly before they can be utilized to extract essential oils. The sandalwood tree has to be at least 36 years old and 30 feet high, prior to being cut and then distilled.

Nomenclature of essential oils
The word “essential” is used for these oils because the “essence” of the flower’s/ plant’s fragrance is contained in them. And contrary to the common belief, the term essential does not imply indispensable here. This belief has come into existence because there are elements like essential fatty acids and essential amino acids, which have got their name because they are essential nutrients for a living organism.