Camphor lavender

Spike-lavender oil. Colorless to yellowish-green oil with a fresh, herby-camphor, lavender-like odor. Production By steam distillation of the flowering herbage of spike lavender, Lavandula latifolia mainly growing wild on the Iberian peninsula. Main producing country is Spain, 150-2()0 t/a. 

The major distinction among the three oils is in their relative contents of hnalyl acetate, linalool, 1,8-cineole, and camphor. Lavender oil contains high concentrations of linalyl acetate (ca. 40%) but only traces of 1,8-cineole and camphor (ca. 1%), while spike lavender oil contains large amounts of 1,8-cineole and camphor (40-60%) with only small... 

Bomeol occurs abundantly in nature as a single enantiomer or, less frequently, as the racemate. (—)-Borneol [464-45-9] occurs particularly in oils from Pinaceae species and in citronella oil. (+)-Bomeol [464-43-7] is found, for example, in camphor oil (Hon-Sho oil), in rosemary, lavender, and olibanum oils. 

True French lavender grows in the Flaute Provence at an altitude of 600 1500 m. The plants are grown from seeds of the wild lavender ( population lavender). Lavender oil is produced in a yield of 10 25kg/ha. It has the following typical composition (%) m-ocimene (4 10), trans-odimene (1.5-6), 1,8-cineole (<1), camphor (<0.5), linalool (25-38), linalyl acetate (25-45), 1-terpinen-4-ol (2-6), and lavandulyl acetate (>2) [574-583a]. 

Spanish spike lavender oil is produced by steam distillation of the flowering tops of spike, Lavandula latifolia Medik. It is an almost colorless to pale greenish-yellow liquid with a characteristic, rough odor slightly like cineole and camphor. 

Lavandin plants are sterile and can be propagated only by using cuttings. The oils from the most important varieties, abrial and grosso, contain linalool (26-38/ 24-35%) and linalyl acetate (20-29/28-38%) as major constituents as well as 1,8-cineole (6-11/4-7%) and camphor (7-11/6-8%) [594-601]. A third variety is called super because its oil contains a high concentration of linalyl acetate (35-47%), and, thus, resembles lavender oil most closely. 

For hundreds of years the essential oil of lavender has been well appreciated for perfumery purposes [72]. Lavender oil is obtained by steam distillation from the fresh-flowering tops of Lavandula angustifolia Miller (Lavandula officinalis Chaix) [73]. It is a colourless or pale yellow, clear liquid, with a fresh, sweet, floral, herbaceous odour on a woody balsamic base [73, 74]. According to the European Pharmacopoeia, characteristic components of lavender oils are limonene, cineol, 3-octanone, camphor, linalool, linalyl acetate, terpinen-4-ol, lavandulyl acetate, lavandulol and a-terpineol. Adulterations commonly include blends of lavender oils with lavandin oil or spike oil, and the addition of synthetic linalool and linalyl acetate. In contrast, genuine lavender oils contain as main constituents (i )-linalyl acetate and (i )-linalool of high enantiomeric purity (Fig. 17.14). 

A recent survey about essential oils and their pure constituents used to control Varroa jacobsoni, contained three interesting tables that reported the toxicity of essential oils for V. jacobsoni and Apis mellifera after 24, 48 and 72 hours in a topical application and in an evaporation test, and the effects of essential oils on behavior and reproduction of V jacobsoni and on the bee brood [63]. The most interesting oils were those of cinnamon and clove, with 100% mite mortality after 24 h and no significant toxicity on honey bees. Furthermore, clove essential oil produced small brood mortality, and it was an inhibitor of mite reproduction. Other effective oils were anise, fennel, lavender, rosemary and wintergreen, which killed 100% mites after 48-72 hours. On the contrary, the oils obtained from garlic, onion, oregano and thyme, were found to be very toxic for honey bees. Among pure constituents, camphor, linalool, linalyl acetate and pinene resulted small brood mortality and inhibited mite reproduction. 

The odor of a freshly crushed mint leaf, like many plant odors, is due to the presence in the plant of volatile C10 and Ci5 compounds, which are called terpenes. Isolation of these substances from the various parts of plants, even from the wood in some cases, by steam distillation or ether extraction gives what are known as essential oils. These are widely used in perfumery, as food flavorings and medicines, and as solvents. Among the typical essential oils are those obtained from cloves, roses, lavender, citronella, eucalyptus, peppermint, camphor, sandalwood, cedar, and turpentine. Such substances are of interest to us here because, as was pointed out by Wallach in 1887 and reemphasized by Ruzicka in 1935, the components of the essential oils can be regarded as derived from isoprene ... 

Camphor (C10H160) Found in essential oils of ho leaf, lavandin, spike lavender, rosemary and sage. An important compound used in many applications including medical preparations, but it is classified as toxic. 

For an essential oil such as lavender, the same major components will be present these are linalool, linalyl acetate and 1,8-cineole. This is the qualitative knowledge. The different types of lavender essential oils will contain different amounts of constituent compounds. Spike lavender, Lavandula latifolia, has high amounts of 1,8-cineole (25-37%), while true lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, has very small amounts (0-5%). Lavandula latifolia may contain up to 60% camphor, while Lavandula angustifolia has only up to about 12%. This is quantitative information. A quantitative analysis is needed to help identify different types of oil and can distinguish chemotypes. 

Figure 7.3 Lavender. A good-quality French lavender, true lavender Lavandula angustifolia. This shows a high linalyl acetate content (33.29%) and low camphor content (0.21%). This oil would meet the ISO standards. Courtesy of Jenny Warden, Traceability.

Figure 7.4 Lavender. This shows the GC analysis for spike lavender (Lavandula latifolia). The camphor level is high and that of linalyl acetate is low. Courtesy of Jenny Warden, Traceability.

The true lavender (Lavandula officinalis) shown in the chromatogram is high in linalyl acetate, conforming to the ISO standard composition range of 25-45% and linalool ISO standard of 25-38%. True lavenders also may have between 5% and 30% lavandulyl acetate the GC for this sample shows quite a low value of 3.55%. Also characteristic of true lavender, the amounts of camphor and the oxide 1,8-cineole are low, but are increased in the other species. High ester and alcohol content makes this a desirable aromatherapy choice as it is gentle with no known contraindications. 

For the spike (Lavandula latifolia) lavender the analysis shows a much lower acetate content and a high natural camphor and 1,8-cineole level. This makes it useful for respiratory infections, as an insecticide and for muscular pain. However, it must be used cautiously as it is a more vigorous oil. 

The hybrid (Lavandula intermedia) lavender shows an intermediate composition between the true and spike for all major components. Ester content is lower and camphor content higher than in the true lavender. It is generally considered to be an inferior essential oil as it was initially bred for the perfumery industry. However, it has been attributed with many therapeutic applications with rare contraindications when used correctly. 

Another type of lavender, Lavandula stoechas, is less commonly encountered. It has a very high camphor content (15-30%), which necessitates cautious handling. Its main component is fenchone (45-50%), a terpenoid ketone, which, although a ketone, is considered nontoxic, nonirritant and nonsensitizing. 

There are three principal chemotypes verbenone, 1,8-cineole and cam-phor-borneol. These are examples of variation due to the climate they are grown in and are also called cultivars. The names of the cultivars are not Latinized and appear after the species name, often within quotation marks. For example, Lavandula angustifolia Maillette is a type of lavender named after its originator. For rosemary the cultivars are named after their country of origin. As a consequence of this, the verbenone is also called French, the 1,8-cineole is called Tunisian and the camphor-borneol is called Spanish. A comparison of these in terms of their amounts of main components is shown in Table 7.2. 

Citral is an example of a very large group of natural products called terpenes. They are responsible for the characteristic odors of plants such as eucalyptus, pine, mint, peppermint, and lemon. The odors of camphor, menthol, lavender, rose, and hundreds of other fragrances are due to terpenes, which have ten carbon atoms with double bonds, and aldehyde, ketone, or alcohol functional groups. (See Fig. 2.)... 

Site-specific natural isotope fractionation (SNIF) NMR, which determines different (D/H), isotope ratios from the NMR spectra, has been used to characterize essential oils derived from a variety of botanicals (lavender, spike lavender, bose de rose oil, bergamont, germanium, clary sage, petit grain, coriander, Formosan, and camphor oil) and geographical regions versus synthetically produced oils. These SNIF-NMR results combined with DA allowed the natural and synthetic oils to be unambiguously indentified. ... 

In the Acidum Aceticum Aromaticum of Belgium and Russia, oil of cloves, lavender, orange, bergamot thyme, and cinnamon ate used while in the French preparation camphor is the chief flavouring irgredient. 

The interest of the early synthetic and structural conundrums posed by camphor (40) (cf. Vol. 2, p. 149) are well illustrated in a profile of Julius Bredt. Three unusual bicyclo[2.2.1]heptenes, 772, have been characterized from lavender oil there is nothing spectacular about their synthesis, since they are... 

The main components of Spanish spike lavender oil are linalool (34-50%), 1,8-cineole (16-39%), and camphor (8-16%) [585-591c]. 

The lotion contains pramoxine hydrochloride 1% and zinc acetate 0.1% and inactive ingredients alcohol USP, camphor, citric acid, diazolidinyl urea, fragrance, glycerin, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, methylparaben, oil of lavender, oil of rosemary, polysorbate 40, propylene glycol, propylparaben, purified water, and sodium citrate. The... 

Compound Camphor Liniment, or Essence for Headache. Take of camphor, 24 ounces avoinlupois oil of lavender. 

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