Extracting Essential Oils

There are several ways of extracting essential oils from a variety of plant materials. These five methods include:

Enfleurage

Enfleurage is the intricate process of extracting perfume oils by adding oils or inodorous oils to the vapors, or exhalations, of flowers. Many flowers, such as jasmine and tuberose, have petals that

are far too delicate to withstand the heat that's used in other methods such as steam distillation, which would also negatively affect the flower's fragrances as well.

Enfleurage is a method of extraction that may take weeks to fully complete. Purified fats are used to absorb the essences of the flower's petals. As the color fades from the petals, new ones are added in their place until the purified fat has reached the appropriate saturation level. The fat is then distilled in alcohol and goes through a process of vigorous vibrations for a full 24 hours, which will separate the essential oil known as pomade from the mixture.

Expression

The technique of expression uses pressure for extracting essential oils from the rinds of fruit. Pulp and pith, the soft, spongy tissue inside fruits such as oranges, are removed by peeling or scooping away at the rind, which is then squeezed until the remaining liquid is left to stand until the oil rises to the liquid's surface for easy removal.

Extraction

For the most concentrated of all essential oils, a process known as extraction is performed using perforated metal trays for placing the flowers on before putting them into a hermetically sealed container. At one end of the container is a solvent tank, and the other features a vacuum still. Liquid solvent slowly and steadily pours over the flowers, dissolving the flower's essential oils and draining it into the still.

After distillation, the solvent is recycled again, leaving a substance that's referred to as "concrete." This semi-solid material contains all of the aromatic ingredients, including the flower's natural waxes which are removed from the vibrations while in the alcohol, leaving absolute of the highest quality.

Maceration

The method of maceration is one that can be done right at home using flowers, jars, and carrier oils. Place either leaves or flower petals one third of the way full in a clean jar, filling the remainder of the space with fixed or essential oils. Covering the mixture as tight as possible to prevent it from spoiling, it should then be stored somewhere in a warm, dark place and left until the fragrances have time to fully absorb into the oil.

You'll know it's time to replace the plant life with fresher foliage when it has turned a brownish color, which can be done more than once, depending on the concentration you're trying to achieve. Once you've strained the mixture and placed it in a tightly sealed container, it can be kept in a dark place for the next few months until it's needed.

Steam Distillation

Steam distillation utilizes a process that releases the plant's essences in the form of a vapor. Different plant life is placed on a grid using steam at temperatures of about 110 degrees Celsius, causing the plant's essences to form a vapor that with the steam, flows through a pipe into cooling tanks, which turn the vapor into liquid and the steam into water. The essential oils float atop the watery distillate and are then easily separated from the remaining liquid.

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