Methods of production

The first step in the isolation of essential oils is crushing or grinding the plant material to reduce the particle size and to rupture some of the cell walls of oil-bearing glands. Steam distillation is by far the most common and important method of production, and extraction with cold fat (enfleurage) or hot fat (maceration) is chiefly of historical importance.

Three different methods of steam distillation are practiced. In the oldest and simplest method a vessel containing water and the chopped or crushed plant material is heated by a direct flame, and the water vapour and volatile oil are recovered by a water-cooled condenser. This original method is being replaced by a process in which the plant material is suspended on a grid above the water level, and steam from a second vessel containing the plant material on a grid is heated to prevent condensation of steam, so that dry distillation is attained.

In southern France essential oils were extracted with cold fat long before the introduction of extraction with volatile solvents. This process is applied to flowers that do not yield an appreciable quantity of oil by steam distillation or whose odour is changed by contact with boiling water and steam. In this process, flowers are spread over a highly purified mixture of tallow and lard and are left for a period varying from 24 hours to 72 hours. During this time most of the flower oil is absorbed by the fat. The petals are then removed (defleurage), and the process is repeated until the fat is saturated with oil. The final product is called pomade (e. g. pomade de jasmine).

In most cases, it is possible to shorten the long enfleurage process by extracting the essential oils using molten fat for one to two hours at a temperature ranging from about 45 º C to 80 º C (110 º F to 175 º C). The fat is filtered after each immersion, and after 10 to 20 extraction cycles the pomade is sold as such, or it may be extracted with alcohol to yield the oil residue.

Since both enfleurage and maceration are rather expensive processes, some essential-oil specialists have shifted almost completely to using volatile solvents for the recovery of essential oils from plant materials that could not be processed by steam distillation. Petroleum naphthas, benzene, and alcohol are the primary solvents.

A procedure called expression is applied only to citrus oils. The outer coloured peel is squeezed in presses, and the oil is decanted or centrifuged to separate water and cell debris. The method is used for oil of sweet and bitter orange, lemon, lime, mandarin, tangerine, bergamot, and grapefruit. Much oil is produced as a by-product of the concentrated-citrus-juice industry.