Have you ever wondered about how to make essential oils? Let us explain that Essential Oils are not made, but instead, they are extracted from plant materials. Extractions are used to obtain a plant’s active botanical constituents that function as its “life force.” They are essentially the liquefied version of a plant, and they effectively allow its beneficial compounds to reach the bloodstream faster than they would by simply consuming the plant.
A herbal extract is produced when a botanical material is introduced to a solvent in which some of the plant material components dissolve. Ultimately, the solvent becomes infused with the botanical materials that it has pulled from the source plant, and this is what is referred to as the “extract.” The solution that remains at the end of the process can be liquid, or the liquid can be removed to turn the remnants of the botanical into a solid. The solvents can act as preservatives or as agents that help plant cells to break down and release their contents.
Steam Distillation is the most popular method used to extract and isolate essential oils from plants for use in natural products. This happens when the steam vaporizes the plant material’s volatile compounds, which eventually go through a condensation and collection process.