It Takes How Much??!!
Essential oils are produced by plants in low amounts to
serve a host of beneficial functions. Oils attract herbivores that help the
plant reproduce; they also ward off unfriendly pests, fight off environmental
threats, and even allow the plant to heal itself if physically injured. When
looking at the plant as a whole, they are composed of a small amount of
essential oil—on average, just 1–5 percent of a plant’s total composition.
Acquiring even just one bottle of essential oil requires an incredibly large
amount of plant material. For example:
Approximately
60 pounds of lavender flowers
are required to produce just 16 ounces of essential oil. That is nearly 30
pounds of delicate, lightweight flowers per 15mL bottle!
It requires more than
10,000 pounds of rose petals to distill
just one pound of rose oil! In terms of bottles, that is approximately 105
pounds of rose petals per 5mL bottle.
It requires 6,000 pounds of melissa plant
to distill just a single pound of melissa essential oil. That equals around 63
pounds of melissa per 5mL bottle.
Nearly 3,000 lemons are needed to distill
just over 2 pounds of lemon essential oil. This equals about 50 lemons per 15mL
bottle.
When bottled for human use, essential oils are highly concentrated. For this
reason, it is important to be aware that using essential oils is very different
from using the whole plant material and only a small amount is necessary to
induce a powerful benefit.
Thanks to aromaticscience.com for this information! Head over to this website for great information on essential oil chemistry and research!
And, like always, don't think twice about reaching out to us with your questions! dahlcrew@gmail.com