The Aromatherapy Foundation of Maui [AFM]

The Aromatherapy Foundation of Maui [AFM] is a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to providing programs, education, training, workshops, scientific information, research, support and other activities and services to the public regarding the correct use and benefits of aromatherapy and aromatic horticulture.

The mission of the Aromatherapy Foundation of Maui is to educate, research, and advance the use of essential oils and aromatherapy as a tool for emotional and physical well-being.

We also believe that the aromatic 'garden' has a nurturing role in the development, improvement and refinement of the mind, emotions and body of individuals and is a vital tool in the management of disease.

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Essential oil Cistus Creticus / Incanus - Labdanum Absulute

Essential oil.

An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An oil is "essential" in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or essence, of the plant. Essential oils do not as a group need to have any specific chemical properties in common, beyond conveying characteristic fragrances. They are not to be confused with essential fatty acids.Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation.

It is produced form: the plant Cistus Creticus/Incanus.


Method: Steam distillation.

Absolute

Similar to essential oils, absolutes are concentrated, highly-aromatic, oily mixtures extracted from plants. Whereas essential oils can typically be produced through steam distillation, absolutes require the use of solvent extraction techniques or more traditionally, through enfleurage.

It is produced from: Labdanum Resin

Method: Solvent extraction.

How to Make Perfume : Steam distillation.

Steam distillation is a special type of distillation (a separation process) for temperature sensitive materials like natural aromatic compounds.

Many organic compounds tend to decompose at high sustained temperatures. Separation by normal distillation would then not be an option, so water or steam is introduced into the distillation apparatus. By adding water or steam, the boiling points of the compounds are depressed, allowing them to evaporate at lower temperatures, preferably below the temperatures at which the deterioration of the material becomes appreciable. If the substances to be distilled are very sensitive to heat, steam distillation can also be combined with vacuum distillation. After distillation the vapors are condensed as usual, usually yielding a two-phase system of water and the organic compounds, allowing for simple separation.

Principle

When a mixture of two practically immiscible liquids is heated while being agitated to expose the surfaces of both the liquids to the vapor phase, each constituent independently exerts its own vapor pressure as a function of temperature as if the other constituent were not present. Consequently, the vapor pressure of the whole system increases. Boiling begins when the sum of the partial pressures of the two immiscible liquids just exceeds the atmospheric pressure (approximately 101 kPa at sea level). In this way, many organic compounds insoluble in water can be purified at a temperature well below the point at which decomposition occurs. For example, the boiling point of bromobenzene is 156 °C and the boiling point of water is 100 °C, but a mixture of the two boils at 95 °C. Thus, bromobenzene can be easily distilled at a temperature 61 C° below its normal boiling point.

Applications

Steam distillation is employed in the manufacture of essential oils, for instance, perfumes. In this method, steam is passed through the plant material containing the desired oils. It is also employed in the synthetic procedures of complex organic compounds. Eucalyptus oil and orange oil are obtained by this method on the industrial scale.

Steam distillation is also widely used in petroleum refineries and petrochemical plants where it is commonly referred to as "steam stripping".

Other industrial uses of steam distillation include the production of consumer food products such as sprayable or aerosolized condiments such as sprayable mayonnaise.

History

Steam distillation was invented by the Persian chemist, Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West), in the early 11th century. He invented it for the purpose of extracting essential oils, which are used in aromatherapy and the drinking and perfumery industries.

The invention of steam distillation contributed significantly to the development of perfumery, in perfecting the extraction of fragrances. The steam distillation technology significantly influenced Western perfumery and scientific developments, particularly chemistry.