The Essential oil reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Essential oil

An essential oil is a water-immiscible material produced by distillation from some plant material. The material (flowers, leaves, stems, or roots, depending on the plant) is put in an alembic over water, and the volatile compounds, which require less vapor pressure to evaporate with the presence of steam, distill into a receiving vessel. The upper portion is the oil, the lower being the hydrosol. They are drained with two spigots.

Most oils are distilled in a single process. The exception is ylang-ylang, which takes 22 hours to complete distillation. It is distilled fractionally, producing several grades.

Many essential oils have medicinal properties that have been applied in folk medicine since ancient times and are still widely used today. For example:

• clove oil is a powerful topical analgesic, especially useful in dentistry.
• Tea tree oil is a broad-spectrum antiseptic.

Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine, in which healing effects are ascribed to particular fragrances.

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