ESSENTIAL OIL

What is an essential oil ?

I suddenly thought to myself well what is an essential oil? A lot of people confuse themselves by thinking it’s only for diffusion in a room; this is only part of its use and certainly not its predominant function. Essential oils are found in cosmetic skin care, perfumes, aroma therapy and diffusers. So heres a little bit about them and their origin and uses.

An essential oil is any concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants, which are called aromatic herbs or aromatic plants. Let me explain what hydrophobic means to those of you who think it’s too complicated to carry on reading. In chemistry, hydrophobic which means the combining form of water in Attic Greek hydro- and for fear Phobos, refers to the physical property of a molecule which is named hydrophobe that is repelled from a mass of water. Interesting isn't it so I'll carry on, Hydrophobic molecules tend to be non-polar (non magnetic for the rest of us) and thus prefer other neutral molecules and no polar solvents. Hydrophobic molecules in water often cluster together forming a group scientifically called a micelle. When water comes into contact with a hydrophobic surface the entry must be of a high contact angle, sounds like we're ready for take off, I don't work for NASA...yet :) Examples of hydrophobic molecules include the alkanes, oils, fats, and greasy substances in general. Hydrophobic materials are used for oil removal from water, the management of oil spills, such as The Tory canyon a horrible childhood memory of mine, and chemical separation processes to remove non-polar from polar compounds.

Sounds complicated doesn't it but it’s actually quite a simple process although I don't intend doing it myself :) Essentials oils are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant material from which they were extracted, such as oil of the Eucalyptus. Oil is "essential" in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or essence, of the plant. Essential oils don't possess any specific chemical properties, apart from the fact that each essential oil has its own characteristic fragrance. People some times mix up essential oils with essential fatty acids, I don't quite know how as they are two totally different things with totally different uses!

Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation. Other processes include expression, or solvent extraction. They are used in perfumes, cosmetics and bath products like shower gels or bath creams, for flavouring food and drink, and for scenting incense and household cleaning products.

Various essential oils have been used medicinally at different periods in history.

History

The history of Aromatherapy dates back at least to 4000 BC, although the term “aromatherapy” was first used in the 1920s by the French chemist René Maurice Gattefossé who accidentally discovered in his laboratory that lavender oil relives pain and assists minor burns in healing. The word “Aromatherapy” is a compound Greek word made up by the word fragrance, aroma and the word treatment, therapy. It is historically proved that the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Persians used aromatherapy oils. Moreover, there is historical evidence in the Bible, back to Sunday school here folks, when Jesus Christ was born the three wise men bore gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, and if you've never smelt Myrrh then get a grip because it really smells awful but is reputed for its virtues as an anti septic, an anti inflammatory and an analgesic.

In ancient Egypt, plant oils were widely used for cosmetics, spiritual relaxation, as well as for embalming and mummification of their dead. They also played a part in rituals on special occasions as men and women would wear on their heads a gradually-melting solid cone made with essential oils that released its fragrance as it melted. As a consequence of the Egyptians’ love for aromatic plants and herbs, and the importance of appearance, the fragrance industry and aromatic medicine were developed more than in any other ancient culture.

The history of Aromatherapy leads us to Ancient Greeks who actually borrowed many healing and relaxation techniques from the Egyptians. They used herbs and aromatherapy oils for medicines and cosmetics. Asclepius (circa 1200 BC) is the first known physician in history who experimented with herbs and plants in his surgeries. Hypocrites (circa 400 BC), “the father of medicine”, studied the beneficial effects of hundreds of scented plants and herbs. He believed that good health can be promoted with aromatic baths and oil massage and therefore surgeries should be avoided when possible. Well I can agree with that, we all feel better and more Zen after a massage with essential oils. Other Greek physicians who dealt with herbs and aromatic oils are Pedacius Dioscorides and Theophrastus who prescribed herbal and aromatic remedies. The Romans developed the Egyptian and Greek techniques for distillation and extraction of aromatic floral waters taking advantage of their knowledge of the natural medicines. The most well-known physician of that age was the Greek Claudius Galen (circa 150 AD) who after studying herbal medicine and treating hundreds of wounded gladiators with botanical remedies; he became the personal physician of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

The next important step in the history of Aromatherapy was made by the Persian civilization. Ibn Sina, a great physician of the age, known in Europe as Avicenna (circa 1000 AC), invented a pipe which steam distilled the plants and produced true essential oils and not aromatic waters as in the past. Essential oil distilling has just been perfected.
The Crusaders returned from the Holy Places, and brought back many different oils, many aromatics, herbal remedies and scented plants from the Middle East which became well known to Europe. The initiation of plants healing different ailments had started.
However, in the medieval era the Catholic Church rejected the aromatherapy remedies, because of their belief that every disease is a punishment sent by God. When Men don't understand something they erase it.... Although with the out break of the Black Death they tried to find a remedy for it but to no avail.

With Marco Polo discovering the East, the trading merchants brought to Europe new aromatherapy remedies and a rich variety of exotic plants and herbs. In Europe, many wealthy people used aromatic handkerchiefs to avoid unpleasant smells, let’s not forget that the drainage systems were non existent, phew… and protect themselves from microbes. Moreover essential oils were used in fumigation of hospitals with great success. At the same period of the history of Aromatherapy, physicians, pharmacists and chemists used to distillate more plants to create essentials oils and many of them published books about aromatic remedies and the use of aromatherapy essential oils for relaxation and pharmaceutical purposes.
As years went by, “apothecaries” who were herbalists and medical practitioners engaged in the formulation and prescription of pharmaceutical remedies, started to sell herbs, essential oils and fragrances. However what began in the East over 4000years ago was becoming industrialised in Europe, which provided oils for the pharmaceuticals, flavour for the food industry and fragrance for perfumeries.

Interest in essential oils has revived in recent decades, with the popularity of aromatherapy, (AROMA/An aroma compound, also known as odorant, aroma, fragrance, flavour, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odour and when two conditions are met: the compound needs to be volatile, so it can be transported to the olfactory system in the upper part of the nose, and it needs to be in a high concentrate to be able to interact with one or more of the olfactory receptors. a branch of alternative medicine which claims that the specific aromas carried by essential oils have curative effects. Oils are volatilized or diluted in carrier oil and used in massage, or burned as incense, for example. Aromatherapy has been developed on a larger scale over these last few years.

Coming back to essential oils and its Medical applications proposed by those who sell ranges of medicinal oils from skin treatments to remedies for cancer, I disagree with those who proclaim this as there are no medical papers confirming this statement. Whereas I know that Helichrisum can regenerate the liver cells I WOULD NOT state that it can cure a cancer and give false hope to someone that is psychologically feeble and whose body is "tired». Such claims are now subject to regulation in most countries, thank goodness.

The history of Aromatherapy continues during the 20th century, when many aroma therapists contributed their knowledge to aromatherapy and created more natural products and more effective and pleasurable techniques. As mentioned before, the French chemist René Maurice Gattefossé was the first to introduce the term “aromatherapy” in 1928.One of his follower an army doctor called Jean Valnet treated very successfully gangrene war wounds during the Second World War. An Austrian biochemist, Marguerite Maury, used essential oils as an integral part of healing by massage and practiced the use of aromatherapy for cosmetic benefits. The results and techniques experimented by Valnet, Maury and her co-researcher Micheline Arcier’s are considered as the basis of modern aromatherapy that today is taught all over the world.

The first book in the history of Aromatherapy published in the English language was the “Art of Aromatherapy” written by the English aromatherapist Robert B. Tisserand in 1977.
Another classic book dedicated to medicinal herbs is “Health through God’s Pharmacy”. Its author, the Austrian Herbalist Maria Treben, claimed that “There is a plant for every illness”.

My conclusion on this is really that they knew more than us 4000 years ago, we still don’t know a quarter of what our elders knew, even if we have modern techniques. All that we've done is to take their knowledge and worked from it, should we really take credit for that?