How Essential Oils Are Obtained

Sources Of Essential Oils
Essential oils are obtained mainly by distillation, and a few by solvent extraction. Other methods such as expression have been used, but are generally too labour intensive to be cost effective. The essential oils are obtained from different parts of the aromatic plant -

Essential Oil	Essential Oil Source
Fennel	Seeds
Jasmine	Flowers
Orange	Fruit (Peel)
Lemongrass	Grass
Geranium	Leaf
Ginger	Root Tuber
Sandalwood	Wood

Essential Oil Distillation
Large vats are filled with the selected part of the plant which is processed by steam distillation. The essential oil is separated from the cooled condensed water producing, for example, Lavender essential oil and Lavender water.
Some plants may produce several oils as different sections of the plant are processed, e.g the Orange tree gives:-

Essential Oil	Essential Oil Source
Orange	Peel
Pettigrain	Leaves
Neroli	Flowers

Solvent Extraction
Solvent extraction is used for fragile flowers such as jasmine, where the heat and pressure used in distillation would destroy the essential oil. The flowers are placed in layers of wax and solvent to macerate and are renewed daily. Subsequently, they are put through a centrifuge and distilled at very low temperatures. This process can take up to 20 days to complete, and oils obtained in this manner are understandably expensive. The result of this process is called an absolute. Essential oil of Rose is also produced by this process as well as by distillation.