Hydrosol Properties ** And Percentages

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Butch Owen <butchbsi

Wed, 18 Jun 2003 18:14:20 -0700

Hydrosol Properties ** And Percentages

 

 

Hey Vicki,

 

> Hi, this may seems a daft question but i was wondering if a

> distiltion water/hydrolat has the same properties as the essential

> oil does?

 

Yes .. and No. Yes to the degree that there is a certain amount of the

EO in the Hydrosol .. the amount depends on the Hydrosol and whether or

not Cohobation has been done. Cohobation is a process whereby a second

form of distillation of the oil bearing waters from the distillation is

used to extract more essential oil. This is only done when it is with a

plant yield that is highly hydrophilic .. like Rose Otto and Melissa ..

and perhaps some others. For example, the first distillation of Damask

Rose Blossoms produces around 20% or less of the oil. The lion's share

is still in the oil bearing waters .. so they go through another process

to remove this oil. That is Cohobation. But even after this a Rose

Hydrosol will contain a good amount of the Rose Otto (Essential Oil).

 

They don't do this with Hydrosols that are cheaper or less hydrophilic,

like Oregano, Rosemary, Tea Tree and on and on .. and in some cases the

percentage of EO in those Hydrosols can be as much as 6% - 8%. With

Rose Hydrosol it is normally in the .5% range.

 

If you figure the cost of Rose Otto at roughly $4,000 a kilo and figure

the cost of Rose Hydrosol at roughly $40 a gallon .. you will see that

the gallon of Rose Hydrosol has MORE than $40 worth of Rose Otto in it.

 

$4,000 a kilo = roughly $113 an ounce.

 

A gallon contains roughly 128 ounces .. .5% of that is .64 ounces. So

if the Hydrosol contains .5% Rose Otto .. it contains $56.50 worth of

Rose Otto.

 

Even if it meets the MINIMUM standards of the Turkish government (which

is hardly ever the case as it exceeds those standards .. both in Turkey

and in Bulgarian Rose Otto/Hydrosol production) we would have .01% Rose

Otto .. or $11.31 worth or Rose Otto in a gallon of Rose Hydrosol.

 

See the Standards Information below ........

 

Now .. How/why do we do this? Why leave that much Rose Otto in the

Hydrosol? Because there is no economic means of extracting that

remaining Rose Otto from the Rose Hydrosol.

 

> also why does it make a different as to whether it is directly for

> the extration process or just has the EO mixed into distilled water?

> is it because water and oils don't mix?

> Vicki

 

Because .. a Hydrosol contains both the non-water soluable and the water

soluable chemical constituents of the aromatic plant. The essential oil

contains only the non-water soluable constituents. Thus, Hydrosols more

closely resemble the true chemical profile of the aromatic material that

is distilled.

 

There are many other reasons .. but I'm not going to go into them now.

The above should be enough for anyone who is concerned about therapeutic

values in natural products.

 

Regards and y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

Turkish Government Rose Hydrosol Standards

 

The Turkish Government considers production of Hydrodistilled Rose Otto

and Rose Hydrosol to be a serious subject and a matter of national

pride. Accordingly, the Turkish Standards Institute issued standards of

acceptance for such products. The Turkish Rose Grower's Association and

some other producers use the Medicinal and Aromatic Plant and Drug

Research Center's analysis facilities to ensure those standards are

met.

In fact, the standards published (in Turkish) fill seven pages but I've

capsulized it to what I see as pertinent information.

 

As published in the Resmi Gazete (Official News) on 7 June 89, No. 20188

 

1.2 - Properties (Rose Hydrosol)

 

1.2.1 - Appearance, Odor, Taste

 

Rose Hydrosol should be clear, with a colorless to dim (somewhat turbid)

appearance. There should be no sediment, artificial materials or color

additives.

 

1.2.2 - Physical and Chemical Properties

 

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES QUANTITATIVE

 

Ph 5.5 - 7

Specific weight, max 20 deg + 1 deg C. 0.9999

Acidity, maximum 0.4

None-essential mat - maximum mass % 0.015

Essential Oil - minimum mass % 0.01

Pathogens/microorganisms None