What are Essential Oils?

An essential oil is the “life force” of a plant …the aromatic, volatile oil-soluble, fluid portion of the plant. Their molecules circulate through the plant tissues and as they pass through cell walls, they carry nutrition into the cells and carry waste products out. They are the most powerful part of the plant and have been used medicinally throughout history to kill viruses, bacteria, and fungi, among many other uses.

Every essential oil has its own unique and complex chemistry – each a mosaic of hundreds – or even thousands – of different chemicals. They are highly concentrated and potent, many times greater than dried herbs.

But they are more than just the chemical compounds in the oil … they contain life force – a consciousness, and when extracted properly most of these elements are preserved.

Essential Oils Are Not the Same as Fatty Oils

Essential Oils are different from vegetable oils such as corn, peanut, and olive oil. They’re not greasy and don’t clog the pores like many vegetable oils can. Also, vegetable oils can become oxidized and rancid over time and are not antibacterial. Most essential oils can’t go rancid (unless it’s a plant that’s high in plant wax and is not distilled properly), plus they are powerful antimicrobials.

How Are Essential Oils Extracted?

The oils are extracted from trees, shrubs, bushes, flowers, roots, and seeds, mostly through steam distillation. They can also be cold pressed, or “expressed”, and extracted using solvents.

The method of extraction is vitally important to preserving the delicate aromatic compounds and life force … the things that make them “therapeutic”. The fragile chemicals are destroyed by high temperatures and pressure, as well as chemically reactive metals such as copper or aluminum. These are the reasons why, if essential oils are to retain their therapeutic quality, they should be distilled in stainless steel or glass vessels, at minimum temperatures and pressures, and for the right amount of time to ensure that a complete essential oil is extracted. An exception to this form of extraction is the “cold pressed” or “expressed” method which is used to extract citrus oils.

Inferior quality oils most likely won’t produce therapeutic results, and can even be toxic if they’re extracted using solvents, adulterated in any way, or if they are synthetic oils created in a lab.

Are There Different Grades of Essential Oils?

Most essential oils (over 95%) are produced for the food and fragrance industries and don’t contain the therapeutic components. The fragrance industry is only interested in the few components that contribute to its aroma, and the food industry only cares about the components contributing to taste. The oils for these industries are extracted at maximum temperatures and pressures to minimize the distillation time in order to save on fuel and labor.

What Determines Therapeutic Quality?

One factor that determines the purity and therapeutic quality of an oil is its chemical constituents. These constituents are affected by many variables, including: the part(s) of the plant from which the oil was produced, soil condition, fertilizer (organic or chemical), geographical region, climate, altitude, harvesting methods, and distillation processes. The plant material should also be free of herbicides and other agrichemicals, as they can react with the essential oil during distillation and produce toxic compounds. Additionally, pesticides are oil-soluble and can mix directly into the essential oil.

Another factor that determines the purity and therapeutic quality of an oil is whether the oil is from nature, or synthetically created in a laboratory. Chemists have successfully recreated the main constituents and fragrances of some essential oils, but these are not appropriate to use on your body. Not only do synthetic oils not contain any therapeutic benefit, they can also be dangerous. It’s the synergy created by the hundreds of chemical compounds contained in the oils (in balanced proportions no less) that make up the therapeutic quality of an essential oil. Plus, many essential oils contain molecules and isomers that are impossible to manufacture in the laboratory.

For more information on the use of essential oils and aromatherapy, click here.

References

Publishing, E. S. (2007). Essential Oils Desk Reference, Fourth Edition. Essential Sciences Publishing.

Stewart, D. P. (2005). The Chemistry of Essential Oils, God’s Love Manifest in Molecules. Care Publications.