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Essential Oils

Essential oils are highly concentrated, volatile extracts of plants that are commonly obtained through steam distillation. Their chemical composition can be modified through subsequent treatments like deterpenation or rectification to remove certain components. Essential oils are tested through gas chromatography, refractive index, optical rotation, and acid value to evaluate quality and purity according to monographs. They must be stored in airtight containers, protected from light and air to maintain integrity.

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21 views3 pages

Essential Oils

Essential oils are highly concentrated, volatile extracts of plants that are commonly obtained through steam distillation. Their chemical composition can be modified through subsequent treatments like deterpenation or rectification to remove certain components. Essential oils are tested through gas chromatography, refractive index, optical rotation, and acid value to evaluate quality and purity according to monographs. They must be stored in airtight containers, protected from light and air to maintain integrity.

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Jyothi Seela
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ESSENTIAL OILS

Essential oils are generally plant-based highly concentrated, volatile, odorous products of
complex chemical composition. The method which is most commonly used for the extraction
of essential oils is steam distillation or hydro-distillation. Other methods include
hydrodiffussion, cold pressing, solvent extraction etc. After the extraction, the essential oils
may undergo a suitable subsequent treatment. Some of the commercially known essential oils
are deterpenated, desesquiterpenated, rectified or ‘x’-free.
Deterpenated essential oil – It is type of essential oil from which monoterpenes are
specifically removed to leave only the oxygenated components. As a result, the strength of its
odor is increased. This is achieved using various methods including distillation and liquid
liquid-extraction.
Deterpenated and desesquiterpenated essential oil - It is a type of essential oil from which
the monoterpenes and the sesquiterpenes were partially or totally removed.
Rectified essential oil – It is a type of essential oil which is purified by re-distillation, either
with steam or by vacuum, in order to remove the impurities from it.
‘x’-free essential oil - When any one chemical entity is partially or completely removed from
an essential oil, it is referred as ‘x’-free essential oil.

PRODUCTION

The state of the plant raw material (whether fresh, dried, whole) taken for extraction of
essential oil depends on the monograph of that oil.
Hydro-distillation – It is a typical method used for the recovery of essential oils from plant
materials. In this method, the plant material is packed in a still and a sufficient quantity of
water is added and brought to a boil. Due to the influence of hot water and steam, the
essential oil is freed from the oil glands present in the plant tissue. The vapor mixture of
water and oil is condensed by indirect cooling with water. From the condenser, distillate
flows into a separator, where oil separates automatically from the distillate water.
Hydrodiffusion – This process consists of extracting the essential oil with steam that
circulates through the plant material, whereby the steam volatile compounds are volatilized,
condensed and collected in receivers.
Solvent extraction – In this type of extraction process, a solvent like hexane or ethanol is used
to extract the essential oil components from the crushed raw plant material. An advantage of
this method is that the heat labile chemical compounds can be retained easily in the extract.
Figure. Apparatus for the determination of essential oil

Cold pressing –In this process, essential oil is produced by applying a mechanical force
without application of heat to break the essential oil glands.

TESTS

Identification
Gas chromatography (Refer to section 2.4.13)
General Tests
The essential oil must comply with the prescribed limits given in the respective monograph
for the following tests.
Relative density (Refer to section 2.4.29) – It is an important criterion to determine the
quality and purity of an essential oil.
Refractive index (Refer to section 2.4.27) – The refractive index of an essential oil is a
unique number that designates how the oil responds and bends light. When a beam of light
passes from a less dense to a denser medium, it is bent or "refracted" toward the normal.
Optical rotation (Refer to section 2.4.22) – It is the property of most of the essential oil to
rotate the plane of polarization to the right (dextrorotatory) or to the left (laevorotatory) when
placed in a beam of polarized light.
Acid value (Refer to section 2.3.23) – Most essential oils contain only small amounts of free
acids. The acid value of an essential oil is defined as the number of milligrams of potassium
hydroxide required to neutralize the free acids in 1 gram of oil. The acid value of an essential
oil often increases as the oil ages, especially if the oil is improperly stored; processes such as
oxidation of aldehydes and hydrolysis of esters increase the acid value. Essential oils which
have been thoroughly dried and which are protected from air and light, show little change in
the acid value.
Ultraviolet Absorbance: This test is specific to the cold pressed citrus oils.
Residue on Evaporation: The residue on evaporation of an essential oil is the percentage by
mass of the oil which remains after evaporation on a water-bath under the specified
conditions. This test is an important criterion of purity in the case of the citrus oils.
Assay
Gas chromatography (Refer to section 2.4.13)

STORAGE

In an airtight container, protected from light.

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