Lavender essential oil

Hydrodistillation is used to obtain essential oils (lavender, rose) from plants. Plants are boiled in water, and the essential oils are evaporated and dragged by the water vapor. 

Linalol is a tertiary alcohol of the formula Cj HjgO, which, with its acetic ester (and traces of other esters) forms the basis of the perfume,of bergamot and lavender oils. By dehydration linalol is converted into terpenes of which the principal are limonene and dipentene, and by esterification into its acetic ester. The examination of the essential oil at different periods of the development of the bergamot fruit has led Charabot and Laloue to the following conclusions. As the fruit matures the essential oil undergoes the following modifications —... 

The same compound, linalol, is the parent substance of oil of lavender. The study of the progressive development of this oil in the plant tissues was carried out on three samples which were distilPd at intervals of a fortnight, the first from flowers in the budding stage, the second from the fully flowering plants, and the third from the plants with the flowers faded. The essential oils thus obtained had the following characters — ... 

Linalol is found very widely distributed in essential oils. It forms the principal constituent, in the free state, of oil of linaloe, and the chief odorous constituent, in the form of esters, in bergamot and lavender oils. It is also found in ylang-ylang, rose, champaca leaf, cinnamon, petit-grain, spike, geranium, lemon, spearmint, and numerous. other essential oils. 

The esters belonging to the geraniol series of alcohols are absolutely indispensable in the manufacture of artificial perfumes. When it is remembered that these esters are present in such oils as bergamot, rose, geranium, lavender, petit-grain, neroli, and numerous other sweetsmelling essential oils, it will readily be seen how useful they are in building up similar perfumes artificially. 

Terpinyl Acetate.—The acetic acid ester of terpipeol is also a natural ester. It nas a refreshing odour, and is often described as being a bergamot and lavender substitute. The writer, however, considers this description unjustifiable, and that it is really due to the fact that it is so often used and recommended as an adulterant for these two essential oils. Terpinyl acetate isia colourless oil, of the formula... 

Esters, or salts of alkyl radicles, such as linalyl acetate, etc., are frequently the most important constituents of essential oils. Their importance is especially noteworthy in such cases as lavender , bergamot, peppermint, and wintergreen oils, and their estimation is very frequently necessary. The principle upon which this depends is the fact that most esters are decomposed by solution of caustic alkali (preferably in alcohol) according to the equation—... 

As the free acids present in essential oils consist in the main of acetic acid, they are, when necessary, calculated in terms of acetic acid in the same way the esters are conventionally calculated from the alkali required for their hydrolysis, in terms of the principal ester present, for example, linalyl acetate in the case of lavender and bergamot oUs, and geranyl tiglate in the case of geranium oil. 

The Detection of Artificial Esters in Essential Oils.—The custom of valuing certain essential oils, such as lavender, bergamot, geranium, petit-grain, etc., by the determination of their ester-content, has led to the use of scientific adulterants in the form of artificial esters which have been deliberately employed for the purpose of misleading the analyst. Of course, the ester determination is not a true criterion of value, as most of this class of oUs owe their perfume value to various other bodies as well. The first compounds of this nature employed for adulteration were ethyl succinate and ethyl oxalate. For the detection of these in lavender oil the foUowing test was proposed by Guildemeister and Hoffman —... 

Moss MC, Cook J, Wesnes KA and Duckett P (2003). Aroma of rosemary and lavender essential oils differentially affect cognition and mood in healthy adults. International Journal of Neuroscience, 113, 1507-1530. 

Buchbauer G, Jirovetz L, Jager W, Dietrich H, Plank C and Karamat E (1991). Aromatherapy Evidence for the sedative effect of the essential oil of lavender after inhalation. Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung (Tubingen, Germany), 46c, 1067-1072. 

Tasev T, Toleva P, Balabanova V. (1969). [Neurophysical effect of Bulgarian essential oils from rose, lavender, and geranium]. Folia Med (Plovdiv). 11(5) 307-17. 

The enantiomeric differentiation of linalool is useful in the quality control of essential oils and oleoresins, as it was found to provide an important indication of the authenticity of many herbs and spices. The enantiomeric composition of linalool has been determined in many essential oils, including basil, bergamot, rosemary, lavandin, lavender, balm, coriander, mace. Pelargonium, rose, Cymbopogon, lemon, mandarin, Osman-thus, davana, jasmine, Lippia alba and orange, as well as in many fruit... 

Linalool is a major component in essential oils such as those of coriander, palmarosa, mace, petitigrain, Lippia alba and sweet orange flowers. (3i )(—)-Linalool is a main component in the oils of Ocimum species, including sweet basil, and in the oils of neroli, linaloe, bergamot, lavender and others. Linalool enantiomers in... 

Linalyl acetate is the principal constituent of the essential oils of bergamot, clary sage, lavender and lavandin. It is also present in the essential oils of Salvia officinalis, petitgrain, sassafras, neroli, lemon, lime, a few Mentha species and others. 

Terpinen-4-ol occurs in the essential oils of lavender, hyssop, pine. Origanum, nutmeg, thyme, marjoram, tarragon, cubeb, neroli, rosemary, juniper berry and passion fruit and raspberry flavor as a mixture of... 

Mosandl A, Schubert V, Stereoisomeric flavour compounds XXXIX Chiral constituents of essential oils (I), stereo differentiation of linalyl acetate — A new possibility for quality evaluation of lavender oil, Z Lebensm Unters Frosch 190 506-510, 1990. 

C12H22O2, Mr 198.30, Z PlOl.SkPa 240 °C, d 0.8901, Wp 1.4515, occurs in many essential oils either as one of its optical isomers or as the racemate. The odor of racemic citronellyl acetate differs little from that of the optical isomers. ( )-Citronellyl acetate is a liquid with a fresh-fruity rose odor. It is often used as a fragrance, for example, for rose, lavender, and geranium notes as well as for eau de cologne with citrus nuances. Since it is relatively stable to alkali, it can be used in soaps and detergents. Citrus flavors acquire speciflc character through the addition of citronellyl acetate it is also used to round off other fruit flavors. 

Because of its odor properties, stability, and low price, large quantities of terpinyl acetate are used in perfumery for lavender and bergamot types, as well as in essential oil reconstitutions. 

Linalool oxide is used in perfumery (e.g., for lavender notes) and for reconstitution of essential oils. 

Lavender and lavandin extracts are also commercially important and are produced in southern France by solvent extraction of flowering lavander and lavandin herbs. Production of lavandin concrete is higher than that of lavender. Extraction of the paste-like concretes with ethanol, followed by evaporation, yields absolutes. These extracts differ from the essential oils in being more soluble and in... 

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). 

Coumarin has been isolated from legumes, orchids, grasses and citrus fruits (Perone, 1972). It is found at particularly high levels in some essential oils, such as cinnamon leaf and bark oil, cassia leaf oil and lavender oil (Lake, 1999). 

Coumarin is a natural product found at high levels in some essential oils, particularly ciimamon leaf oil (40 600 ppm (mg/kg)), ciimamon bark oil (7000 ppm), other types of cinnamon (900 ppm), cassia leaf oil (17 000-87 300 ppm), peppermint oil (20 ppm), lavender oil, woodruff and sweet clover as well as in green tea (0.2-1.7 ppm), fruits such as bilberry and cloudberry and other foods such as chicory root (Boisde Meuly, 1993 TNO, 1996 Lake, 1999). It is also found in Mexican vanilla extracts (Sullivan, 1981 Maries etal, 1987). 

Coumarin is a natural product occurring in the essential oils of a large number of plants, such as cinnamon, cassia, lavender and woodruff. It is used for its fragrance in many personal care products (perfumes, deodorants, soaps) and in tobacco, in household and industrial products to mask unpleasant odours and, in some countries, as a flavouring agent in food and beverages. It has also been used to treat several medical conditions. Exposure to coumarin may occur from its production, its natural presence in many plants and essential oils, and its several industrial, medical and consumer uses. 

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. 

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