AIRASE Essential Oil Hot News

Local & Organic Essential Oils Doesn't Mean "Squat" - More Proof

Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Meeting the Requirements for Medicinal Use Today gives us another look at the science of distillation and how vital it is that the process is conducted by a knowledgeable and trained distiller. Scientist Sudeep Tandon at the Central Institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) in Lucknow, India, gave a perfect description of the distillation process: "In simple terms distillation of aromatic herbs implies vaporizing or liberating the oils from the trichomes/plant cell membranes of the herb in the presence of high temperature and moisture and then cooling the vapor mixture to separate out the oil from water."1 Most essential oil consumers think of a distiller on a large scale, like those used in the essential oil industry to provide many liters of essential oil at a time. But for research purposes, a small distilling instrument is desired. For laboratory-scale distillations, researchers use small hydrodistillers like the Deryng or Clevenger apparatus for lab analysis. Below is a photo of a Clevenger model. Photo: courtesy of Soham Scientific A study conducted in Poland compared the volatile components of sage essential oil (Salvia officinalis) from different hydrodistillation times, obtained by hydrodistillation in the Deryng and Clevenger apparatus. Researchers from the Department of Pharmacognosy with Medicinal Plant Unit at the Medical University of Lublin tested samples of sage essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation and solid-phase microextraction. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is an easy-to-use technique that might be considered as "a very short gas chromatography column turned inside out."2 This technology uses a fiber coated with an extracting phase. It can extract both volatile and non-volatile components in either liquid or gaseous states. Once the extraction is completed, the SPME fiber can be "transferred to the injection port of separating instruments, such as a Gas Chromatograph, where desorption of the analyte takes place and analysis is carried out.3 The study reported that "different sample preparation techniques showed considerable differences in volatiles composition, especially with respect to sesqui- and diterpenoids."4 As the researchers analyzed the samples obtained by hydrodistillation in the Deryng and Clevenger type apparatus, they noticed the presence of the same terpenoids in both essential oils. While sage essential oil from both instruments contained the same constituents, the study stated a difference:  "[H]owever, the relative percentage composition of the components were different. These differences are caused by the different extraction times used in both methods. Since each essential oil to be admitted to medicinal use should meet requirements regarding the composition of major chemical components, the minimum time for the hydrodistillation of the essential oils from sage should be 1 h."5 As cutting-edge essential oil research is now confirming, in order for an essential oil to be "medicinal" or "therapeutic," the distilling must be exacting so that the composition of the essential oil will fit the requirements to be "admitted to medicinal use." Research http://www.morningmystbotanics.com/images/pdf/DistillationPDF/df4316.pdf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_phase_microextraction. Ibid. Baj T, et al., "GC-MS analysis of essential oils from Salvia officinalis L.: comparison of extraction methods of the volatile components," Acta Pol Pharm. 2013 Jan-Feb;70(1):35-40. Ibid.    Copyright © 2013 AIRASE. All Rights Reserved.  Our mailing address is: 1530 P B Lane # A2095 Wichita Falls, Texas 76302-2612 USA  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences