Absolutes and Essential Oils - Production

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A post I made back in 2002 .... Butch

Below is a reply I sent to various roups before .. I have updated it a

bit and I think it will explain these differences well enough.

Somebody asked:

> Can some one tell me what is the difference between an essential

> oil and an absolute?

>

> I've seen several different sites offer both products but there is

> never a definition of the difference.

There are many definitions out and about .. but generally one has to

search for them. Before I'm through with this explanation you might

be sorry you even asked. ;-)

Let me start by saying that this post is protected by Copyright!

Most of the explanations we do find are too short because they're

either briefs written by folks who might not have all the facts .. or

they are technical to a point that some folks don't understand them ..

and in both cases they can create more questions. I'll try to avoid

that by answering questions before they are asked .. so I hope this

explanation is clear enough. I'm not known for brevity. ;-)

ALL Essential Oils are produced by one of the three following methods:

1. Steam Distillation: The plant material is suspended over the water

and as the water heats .. steam passes through the plant material, etc.

2. Hydro-Diffusion: Similar to Steam Distillation except the steam is

forced downward from the top rather than passing through the aromatic

material from the bottom. Folks believe that some aromatic oils are

better when Hydro-Diffused .. and I agree with them .. that's why I

offer a number of Hydro-Diffused EO.

3. Hydro-Distillation: The aromatic material is in direct contact with

the water .. similar to clothing in a washing machine in contact with

the wash water. Rose Otto must be distilled in this manner because

steam will not pass through the Rose Blossoms after they become heated

and compacted. When using this method there is normally a 3 to 1 ratio

of water to plant material, i.e., in Turkey most of the stills have a

2 metric ton capacity .. in that still they place 500 kilos of Rose

Blossoms and 1,500 kilos of spring water. This ratio is important, as

is constant monitoring of heat control .. in order to avoid having the

aromatic materials overheat .. or caramelize.

These are the ONLY three ways I know of to produce Essential Oils.

Absolutes are NOT Essential Oils. They are Absolutes.

Cold Pressed Oils are NOT (in my opinion) Essential Oils. Some folks

consider certain Cold Pressed Oils (like Citrus) to be Essential Oils.

I don't. The rationale they use is that those Citrus oils are also

Volatile Oils. My rationale for not accepting this is that we should

adhere to a universal definition in any industry .. or risk losing

whatever credibility we have. Do we have credibility now in AT?

Volatility alone is not (in my opinion) a determining criteria!

All extracted plant oils are Volatile to some degree but all Volatile

oils are NOT Essential Oils .. all dogs are mammals but all mammals

are not dogs! This subject can be debated till the cows come home and

we will not find agreement.

It serves no purpose to argue the semantics of this as it detracts

from the important points .. there is enough misinformation out and

about and some folks will fall on their swords when attempting to

validate the misinformation .. especially if it came from a

misinformed teacher's instructions. Ideally, we should use common

language in this industry.

Solvent Extraction: A misunderstood/misused term. ALL Essential Oils

are Solvent Extracted. The Solvent used in the three forms of

extraction of Essential Oils (above) is .. Heated Water - Steam. I

point this out because in the industry we say that Absolutes are

Solvent Extracted, and true it is .. but we should say which Solvent

is used because Water is a Solvent.

CO2 Extracted Oils: They also are not Essential Oils. But they, like

Essential Oils .. are Solvent Extracted. The solvent used is Carbon

Dioxide (CO2) in its liquid state. After extraction is complete the

CO2 then reverts back to its gaseous state.

Absolutes: Some aromatics do NOT take well to distillation .. Jasmine

for example. Some aromatics can't be distilled at all .. Vanilla for

example. Some can be Distilled OR extracted as Absolutes .. Rose for

example.

Why do we produce both Absolutes and Essential Oils from Rose Blossoms?

Because production of Absolutes requires less aromatic plant material

and because there is a demand for Absolutes. Absolutes are more

costly to produce than are Essential Oils made from the same aromatic

materials but the yield is higher. For those aromatic oils that are

produced both as Essential Oils and Absolutes there will not always be

a valid basis for price comparison.

Production of Absolutes is a multi-step process requiring both Hot

Processing and Cold Processing .. it starts with a Hot Process.

I'll use Turkish Rose Absolute as a tool for explaining this process.

The Rose Blossoms are literally washed in a hot process of Hexane ..

in a type of still, similar to the Hydro-Distillation method described

above .. but the Solvent used in the initial process to produce Rose

Absolute is not Water .. its Hexane.

Hexane is NOT as dangerous as it is commonly thought to be .. that is

not to say that in its pure state its harmless .. its NOT to be used

as an after dinner cocktail - drinking it would be harmful. But Hexane

will not be found in its pure state in an Absolute. Hexane is used to

produce many common cooking oils found in the kitchen.

Upon completion of this Hexane bathing process, the Hexane is drawn

off and what remains is a waxy substance called Concrete. Concrete is

thick and not generally suitable for use in AT .. though some folks do

use it in perfumery, cosmetics, soaps, etc.

The still warm Concrete is then poured into containers (normally kilo

size) with a hole in the top of the container .. through this hole

will escape the remaining Hexane in the Concrete. Hexane is one of the

most volatile substances known to science so it does escape. Then

later .. sometimes weeks or even longer, the remaining (now cold)

Concrete is subjected to a Cold Process bath using another Solvent.

This final Solvent used to produce Rose Absolute is normally Ethanol,

or C2H5OH .. something we find in every bar .. Grain Alcohol.

The Absolute produced from the Concrete will have a bit of Ethanol

remain in it .. and maybe a trace (6 ppm or so) of Hexane. But it is

NOT harmful .. I repeat .. it is NOT harmful.

After the extraction of Absolute from the Concrete .. the substance

remaining is the Wax .. and as it ages (or matures) it will have even

less Hexane remaining it it. There will come a point where this wax

is no longer plyable .. then it is ideal for making soaps because the

level of hexane is much lower but the amount of Rose Oil in the wax

will be roughly the same as before .. and the wax must be melted down

prior to use anyway.

An extract from one of the many fine articles on Watt's site is

below .. folks should visit his site at http://www.aromamedical.com/

This portion is from his page entitled " Misinformation On Aromatherapy

Issues http://www.aromamedical.com/articles/misinfor.html

Misinformation: " Absolutes should not to be used for therapeutic

purposes " .

Truth: " IN FACT several floral absolutes have been extensively tested

on humans for adverse effects and are passed as safe if used in the

appropriate amounts. Several absolutes are permitted food additives

under EEC, FDA & WHO regulations. Solvent residues are subject to

International regulations, and these levels are only a few parts per

million if for food use. Therefore, use on the skin in aromatherapy is

perfectly safe, provided the maximum levels recommended by RIFM are

not exceeded. As absolutes are cold processed, they represent the

perfume found in the living plant much more closely than the

equivalent distilled essential oil. " UNQUOTE

I'll comment on his last sentence .. the reason the odor of an

Absolute will more closely resemble the aromatic source it was

extracted from than will an Essential Oil is likely to be due to

chemical changes caused by heat during the distillation process. This

doesn't mean the oil loses its therapeutic properties. If that were

the case there would be no Aromatherapy .. but it is likely that some

of the natural trace chemicals might be altered by distillation .. and

the odor of an oil is not always due to the major chemical components;

often its due to some obscure trace chemical(s).

So .. we started with Rose Blossoms .. then obtained Rose Concrete ..

and finally we wind up with two products .. Rose Absolute .. and the

plant Waxes that are left behind after the final extraction process.

This wax is called .. Rose Wax. For the last few years this wax has

been highly sought after by folks in this industry .. for soaps or

whatever. Prior to that time the remaining Rose Wax was a product we

dumped in the garbage.

And that's what Absolutes and Essential Oils are .. and how they are

produced.

> Thanks!

Welcome you are.. and y'all keep smiling. :-)

Butch .. http://www.AV-AT.com .. Bulk/Wholesale/Retail GC Tested EO,

Rose Products, Tested Hydrosols and other nice things shipped from our

store in Downtown Friendsville, MD .. Pop: 597