Absolutes (What They Are) ** Safety of Absolutes ** Distillation/Extraction Methods

[Guest guest]

Howdy y'all,

 

Below is a slightly modified post I sent to THIS group and two other groups

back in November 2004 ,, the ATFE2 Group later lost its Archive .. so I am

sending it again now so it will be there for future reference.

 

Someone asked:

 

 

> What are absolutes and how is it different from hydrosols?

>

 

And I replied:

 

Suthren folks might consider the Absolute as they would Collard Greens ..

and the Hydrosol would be the Pot Liquer. ;-)

 

The reply below is one I wrote it in November 2004 and its still a valid

explanation. I was able to retrieve it from the Group Archive on the

first try because it had a proper subject .. if it had been titled " What Is

An Absolute " or something of that nature .. I would still be looking for it

because we have maybe forty-leven dozen posts in the Archive that have

subject lines that don't clearly ID the subject. " What is " or " I Have a

Question " or such lead in's to a Subject line make it very difficult to

retrieve a post from the Archive.

 

Thanks for

> your help.

>

 

You are most welcome .. and I thank you for the question cause I'll bet a

purty that many other folks were wondering the same thing .. you came out

with a question and helped edumocate them .. that is what this and all other

credible AT List are really supposed to do .. folks ask questions or discuss

subjects and other folks answer and/or add to the dialogue. None of us are

born with this information and we are ignorant until we become educated ..

ignorant does not mean DUMB or STUPID .. it means NOT INFORMED. There are

many subjects I and others are IGNORANT about. Stupid might be the correct

term to use when someone does not know and doesn't ask .. SMART is certainly

the correct term to use when a person accepts that they lack information and

they reach out to acquire it. So .. I salute you. :-)

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

 

Absolutes (What They Are) ** Safety of Absolutes ** Distillation/Extraction

Methods

 

Hi Pan,

 

> Wow! What an educational & relaxing way to start my morning!

> Thank you Butch for all the information - it clears up a lot of

> questions, including the difference between rose otto and attar

> of roses which I found very confusing as a beginner. I really

> enjoyed the virtual tour through Turkey.

 

Glad it was useful .. and that you enjoyed it. :-)

 

> Now here's one more for you. Please define an " absolute " . That

> was yet another term spinning around in my head when I went shopping

> for rose oil.

 

Lemme start by saying that this post is protected by Copyright!

 

There are around forty-eleven ways to describe an Absolute .. and afore I'm

through you might be sorry you asked. Most of the explanations are too short

and create more questions .. but I'm not known for brevity.

 

If its worth explaining its worth trying to answer questions afore they are

asked .. so I'll use a combination of those ways and hope the explanation is

clear enough. If it appears that I'm rambling it is probably because its

true.

 

ALL Essential Oils are produced by either:

 

1. Steam Distillation .. means the plant material is placed in a basket or

container and suspended over the water .. steam passes through the

plant material, etc.

 

2. Hydro-Diffusion .. which is similar to Steam Distillation except the

steam is forced down from the top rather than passing through the aromatic

material from the bottom. Some say some aromatic oils are

better when Hydro-Diffused .. and I agree with them .. that's why I offer a

number of Hydro-Diffused EO.

 

3. Hydro-Distillation .. means the aromatic material comes into direct

contact with the water .. similar to a washing machine where the clothes are

in contact with the water. Rose Otto is manufactured in this manner because

steam will not pass through the Rose Blossoms after they become heated and

compacted. When using this method there is normally a 3 or 4 to 1 ratio of

water to plant material. This is important to avoid having the aromatic

materials overheat .. or caramelize.

 

Those are the only three ways I know of to produce Essential Oils .. and

Absolutes are not Essential Oils. They are Absolutes. I don't consider Cold

or Expeller Pressed Oils (like Citrus) as being Essential

Oils either . CO2 extracted oils are also not Essential Oils.

 

I don't argue the semantics of this with folks as it detracts from the

points I try to make .. there is enough misinformation about to cause some

folks to want to validate that misinformation or their misinformed

teacher's instructions. We should use common language in this industry. If

one wants to call turtles as terrapins or spiders as insects they can do it

if they want to .. but they might consider talking only to folks who are

likewise wrong or they might be corrected/challenged. ;-)

 

The Solvent used in the three forms of extraction above is .. Water. Heated

Water - Steam. I point this out because in this industry we say that

Absolutes are Solvent Extracted .. and true it is .. but we should say which

Solvent is used because Water is also a Solvent.

 

Absolutes .. Some aromatics don't take well to distillation .. Jasmine for

example. Some can't be distilled .. Vanilla for example. Some can be

distilled or extracted as Absolutes .. Rose Blossoms for example.

 

Production of Absolutes requires less aromatic plant material, thus ..

Absolutes are not as costly as are Essential Oils made from the

same aromatic materials. Because some aromatic oils are produced both as

Essential Oils and Absolutes .. there will not always be a basis for price

comparison.

 

Production of Absolutes is a multi-step process requiring both Hot

Processing and Cold Processing .. it starts with a Hot Process.

 

I'll use the Rose Absolute made here in Turkey as a tool for explaining this

process. The Rose Blossoms are literally washed in a hot process of Hexane

... in a type of still, similar to the Hydro-Distillation

method described above. Except that the Solvent used in the initial process

to produce Rose Absolute is not Water .. its normally Hexane.

 

Hexane is NOT dangerous as is commonly thought by some folks .. its not to

be used as an after dinner cocktail - drinking it would be harmful. But

this is also true for most of the essential oils.

 

Hexane is used to make many common cooking oils found in the kitchen.

 

Upon completion of this Hexane bathing process, the Hexane is drawn off and

what remains is a very Waxy substance called Concrete. Concrete is thick and

not normally suitable for use in AT .. though some folks do use it in

cosmetics, perfumes and soaps.

 

The still warm Concrete is then poured into containers (normally kilo size)

with a hole in the top of the container .. through this hole will escape the

remaining Hexane in the Concrete. Hexane is one of the most volatile

substances known to science so it does escape. Then later .. sometimes weeks

later or even longer, the remaining (now cold) Concrete is subjected to a

Cold Process bath using another Solvent.

 

This other (final) Solvent used to produce Rose Absolute is normally Ethanol

...or C2H5OH .. something we find in every bar .. Grain Alcohol.

 

The Absolute produced from the Concrete will have a few percentage points of

Ethanol remain in it .. and maybe a trace (6 ppm or so) of Hexane. But it is

NOT harmful .. I repeat .. it is NOT harmful.

 

Following is an extract from one of the many fine articles on Martin Watt's

site .. folks should visit it at http://www.aromamedical.com/

 

This portion is from his page entitled " Misinformation On Aromatherapy

Issues http://www.aromamedical.com/articles/misinfor.html

 

Misinformation: " Absolutes should not to be used for therapeutic purposes " .

IN FACT several floral absolutes have been extensively tested on humans for

adverse effects and are passed as safe if used in

the appropriate amounts. Several absolutes are permitted food additives

under EEC, FDA & WHO regulations. Solvent residues are subject

to International regulations, and these levels are only a few parts per

million if for food use. Therefore, the use on the skin in aromatherapy is

perfectly safe, provided the maximum levels recommended by RIFM are not

exceeded.

 

As absolutes are cold processed, they represent the perfume found in the

living plant much more closely than the equivalent distilled essential oil. "

UNQUOTE

 

I'll comment on his last sentence .. in fact, the odor of an Absolute will

more closely resemble the aromatic source it was extracted from than will an

Essential Oil. The reason for this is likely to be the

destruction or chemical changes caused by heat in the distillation process.

Doesn't mean the oil loses its therapeutic properties .. if that were the

case there would be no AT .. but its likely that some of

the natural trace chemicals might be altered .. and the odor of an oil is

not always due to the major chemical components .. sometimes its from

obscure trace chemicals.

 

I'll comment on his point of safe .. " IF used in appropriate amounts " . How

do we learn the appropriate amount of a particular EO or Absolute? Only

source I know is Martin's Safety Manual, " Plant Aromatics " . This reference

publication has been around for a long time. It contains, for various EO,

references on scientifically proven safe dilution for dermal application of

EO and Absolutes. Folks can review this Safety Manual on Martin's web site

... the link I posted above.

 

I will caveat my recommendation that you visit Martin's web site with the

following comments. I have to do this because though I agree with maybe

99.44% of Martin's work .. I can't agree with all of his

positions and if I send folks to read things I don't agree with I need to

let them know that up front.

 

1. Martin is my good buddy and I have the utmost respect for him and his

knowledge. He has perhaps the most extensive research library of any person

in this industry and he has spent many, many years doing a lot of fine

research. He has published and its good work. If I were to measure his

general knowledge of aromatic matters against my own .. I would come out on

the short end of the stick .. but I too know a thing or three .. even a

blind hawg finds an acorn now and then.

 

2. Martin is a fanatic on safety .. this is a good thing because his extreme

position provides good balance to the majority of the crap put out by many

others that totally disregards safe use of Essential Oils.

But I am not of the opinion that if an EO is not proven to be safe then it

should not be used. Many EO commonly used in AT have not been tested for

dermal use .. one of the many is Peppermint.

 

3. Martin is an honest man with a very low tolerance for the hype that is

common in this industry .. and he's been around this industry long enough to

see a lot of such crap. That is why he often comes across as a Troll .. he's

not really a Troll .. just acts like one sometimes. ;-)

 

4. Martin is more of a tree hugger than I am .. probably because he is a

Social Democrat. ;-) I am a true conservationist but I don't agree with

his positions on Rosewood and Sandalwood .. and I have presented my

disagreement in debate with him on and off list. None of what I have written

here today is written behind his back .. we've duked it out on and off list

before .. and he is a member of this list .. likely will see this post if he

has his ears on. We duke it out and still remain friends due to a mutual

respect .. even though he is a Social Democrat. ;-)

 

5. If someone wants to learn the CORRECT information about Essential Oils

and Aromatherapy .. rather than later having to weed through all the

humma-humma and unlearn the bad information .. I would highly recommend they

consider taking Martin's Aromatherapy Course .. also listed on his web site

for your review.

 

(Added today) .. I'll also point out that I am happy to see Martin and Burfield and some other professional researchers in this industry

acknowledge that Certified Organic as pertains to Essential Oils is in many

cases a massive con .. similar to the Emperor's New Clothes. There are many

valid reasons for their (and my) position on this touchy subject. One must

have their ducks in order if they want to go about kicking the Sacred Cows.

 

Back at the farm:

 

So .. we started with Rose Blossoms .. then obtained Rose Concrete .. and

finally we wind up with two products .. Rose Absolute .. and the plant Waxes

that are left behind after the final extraction process.

This wax is called .. Rose Wax. For the last few years Floral Waxes have

been highly sought after by folks in this industry.

 

And that is how Absolute is produced.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) .. Butch ..

http://www.AV-AT.com<http://www.av-at.com/>

 

Bulk/Wholesale/Retail GC Tested EO and Rose Products, Tested Hydrosols and

other nice things shipped to you from our store in Friendsville, MD .. Pop:

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