Essential Oils

How Essential Oil Extraction Works

Even though you can make your own essential oils, it takes many years of experience with essential oil extraction in order to produce essential oils that are of aroma therapeutic grade. Every step of the essential oil extraction process requires both dedication and knowledge if you want to produce truly fine oil. Equipment to extract essential oil can be very expensive if you want to produce large amounts of oil. You will also need a lot of raw material to extract just small amounts of oil.

Steam And Hydro Distillation For Essential Oil Extraction

Hydro-distillation and steam distillation are the most common method of essential oil extraction. Both methods are quite similar and involve steam flowing into a chamber containing the raw plant material. Inside, the small sacs that contain the essential oil burst under pressure, releasing the oil. This oil is then carried by the steam out of the chamber and into a chilled condenser, where the steam becomes water once again. From there the oil and water have to be separated.

The Right Temperature For Essential Oil Extraction

You cannot have the temperature of the extraction chamber too high or you will either destroy or alter some parts of the oil. For instance, you cannot process lavender at over 245 degrees Fahrenheit. Otherwise you will get a 'harsh' aroma wherein there is more chemical than floral scent and the oil's therapeutic effects will be lessened. Of course, this temperature has to be held for a specific amount of time so that ALL of the oil's components are flushed out of the plant. It is important to understand that some of these components will be released quicker than others.

The End Product In Essential Oil Extraction

There are numerous factors that determine the final quality of essential oil extraction. Apart from the plant material itself, time, temperature and pressure are also important, as is the quality of the distillation equipment. Essential oils are very complex being made up of hundreds of distinct molecules that come together to form the aroma and therapeutic properties. Some of these molecules are delicate and can be either altered or destroyed by adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, making these essential oils is a long, slow process.

Sometimes oils are "overcooked" in the essential oil extraction process. Usually these oils can be used in cosmetics and processed food manufacturing. However, sometimes they are sold to consumers as essential oils for use in aromatherapy. These are the less expensive oils that are available. You should know that these have limited therapeutic value. So, this process has to be mastered in order to have these high quality essential oils available.

One way to avoid the problem of low-grade or low-quality essential oil is to make your own. Home distillation equipment is available that allow you to distill your own essential oils.