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Volatile Oil
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An essential oil is essential in the sense that it contains the essence of the plant's fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived. The term "essential" used here does ''not'' mean required or usable by the human body, as with the terms essential amino acid or essential fatty acid, which are so called because they are nutritionally required by a living organism. Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation, often by using steam. Other processes include expression, solvent extraction, '' sfumatura'', absolute oil extraction, resin tapping, wax embedding, and cold pressing. They are used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandalwood Oil
Sandalwood oil is an essential oil obtained from the steam distillation of chips and billets cut from the heartwood of various species of sandalwood trees, mainly ''Santalum album'' (Indian sandalwood) and ''Santalum spicatum'' (Australian sandalwood). Sandalwood oil is used in perfumes, cosmetics, sacred unguents, and as a mild food flavouring. Main constituents Sandalwood oil contains more than 90% sesquiterpene, sesquiterpenic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohols of which 50–60% is the tricyclic α-Santalol, α-santalol. β-Santalol comprises 20–25%. The composition of the oil will depend on the species, region grown, age of tree, and possibly the season of harvest and details of the extraction process used. Current International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards for ''S. album'' oil are 41–55% α-santalol and 16–24% β–santalol (ISO 3518: 2002E). Traditional uses Due to its highly coveted fragrance, the essential oil produced from sandalwood is often use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soap
Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are used as thickeners, components of some lubricants, emulsifiers, and catalysts. Soaps are often produced by mixing fats and oils with a Base (chemistry), base. Humans have used soap for millennia; evidence exists for the production of soap-like materials in ancient Babylon around 2800 BC. Types Toilet soaps In a domestic setting, "soap" usually refers to what is technically called a toilet soap, used for household and personal cleaning. Toilet soaps are salts of fatty acids with the general formula (Carboxylate ion, RCO2−)M+, where M is Sodium, Na (sodium) or Potassium, K (potassium). When used for cleaning, soap solubilizes particles and g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wood
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin that resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, or more broadly to include the same type of tissue elsewhere, such as in the roots of trees or shrubs. In a living tree, it performs a mechanical-support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up by themselves. It also conveys water and nutrients among the leaves, other growing tissues, and the roots. Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, woodchips, or fibers. Wood has been used for thousands of years for fuel, as a construction material, for making tools and weapons, furniture and paper. More recently it emerged as a feedstock for the production ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leaf
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, flower, and fruit collectively form the Shoot (botany), shoot system. In most leaves, the primary Photosynthesis, photosynthetic Tissue (biology), tissue is the palisade mesophyll and is located on the upper side of the blade or lamina of the leaf, but in some species, including the mature foliage of ''Eucalyptus'', palisade mesophyll is present on both sides and the leaves are said to be isobilateral. The leaf is an integral part of the stem system, and most leaves are flattened and have distinct upper (Glossary of botanical terms#adaxial, adaxial) and lower (Glossary of botanical terms#abaxial, abaxial) surfaces that differ in color, Trichome, hairiness, the number of stomata (pores that intake and output gases), the amount and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flower
Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, modified leaves; corolla, the petals; androecium, the male reproductive unit consisting of stamens and pollen; and gynoecium, the female part, containing style and stigma, which receives the pollen at the tip of the style, and ovary, which contains the ovules. When flowers are arranged in groups, they are known collectively as inflorescences. Floral growth originates at stem tips and is controlled by MADS-box genes. In most plant species flowers are heterosporous, and so can produce sex cells of both sexes. Pollination mediates the transport of pollen to the ovules in the ovaries, to facilitate sexual reproduction. It can occur between different plants, as in cross-pollination, or between flowers on the same plant or even the same f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eucalyptus Oil
Eucalyptus oil is the generic name for distilled oil from the leaves of ''Eucalyptus'', a genus of the plant family Myrtaceae, mostly native to Australia but cultivated worldwide. Eucalyptus oil has a history of wide application, as a pharmaceutical, antiseptic, insect repellent, repellent, flavouring and fragrance, as well as having industrial uses. The leaves of selected ''Eucalyptus'' species are steam distillation, steam distilled to extract eucalyptus oil. Types and production In the trade, eucalyptus oils are categorized into three broad types according to their composition and main end-use: medicinal, perfumery and industrial. The most prevalent is the standard cineole-based "oil of eucalyptus", a colourless mobile liquid (which yellows with age), having a penetrating, camphoraceous, woody plant, woody-sweet scent. China produces about 75% of the world output, but most of that is derived from the cineole fractions of Cinnamomum camphora, camphor laurel rather than being ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patchouli
Patchouli (also spelled patchouly or pachouli; ; '' Pogostemon cablin'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, commonly called the mint or deadnettle family. The plant grows as a bushy perennial herb, with erect stems reaching up to in height and bearing small, pale, pink-white flowers. It is native to the island region of Southeast Asia, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Malay Peninsula, New Guinea, and the Philippines. It is also found in many parts of Nepal and North East India. Noted for its fragrant essential oil, it has many commercial uses and is now extensively cultivated in tropical climates around the world, especially in Asia, Madagascar, South America, and the Caribbean. , global demand for patchouli oil is over per year, of which over 90% is produced by Indonesia. Etymology The word derives from the Tamil ''patchai'' () or paccuḷi, meaning "green", and ''ellai'' (), meaning "leaf". Cultivation Patchouli grows well in warm to tropical clim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tea Tree Oil
Tea tree oil, also known as melaleuca oil, is an essential oil with a fresh, camphoraceous odour and a colour that ranges from pale yellow to nearly colourless and clear. It is derived from the leaves of the tea tree, '' Melaleuca alternifolia'', native to southeast Queensland and the northeast coast of New South Wales, Australia. The oil comprises many constituent chemicals, and its composition changes if it is exposed to air and oxidises. Commercial use of tea tree oil began in the 1920s, pioneered by the entrepreneur Arthur Penfold. There is little evidence for the effectiveness of tea tree oil in treating mite-infected crusting of eyelids, although some claims of efficacy exist. In traditional medicine, it may be applied topically in low concentrations for skin diseases, although there is little evidence for efficacy. Tea tree oil is neither a patented product nor an approved drug in the United States, although it has been used in skin care products and is appro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peppermint
Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a Hybrid (biology), hybrid species of Mentha, mint, a cross between Mentha aquatica, watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantbase Project''Mentha'' × ''piperita''/ref> It is occasionally found in the wild with its parent species.Flora of NW Europe''Mentha'' × ''piperita'' Although the genus ''Mentha'' comprises more than 25 species, the one in most common use is peppermint. While Western peppermint is derived from ''Mentha × piperita'', Chinese peppermint, or ''bohe'', is derived from the fresh leaves of ''M. haplocalyx''. ''M. × piperita'' and ''M. haplocalyx'' are both recognized as plant sources of menthol and menthone, and are among the oldest herbs used for both culinary and medicinal products. Botany Peppermint was first identified in Hertfordshire, England, by a Dr. Eales, a discovery which John Ray publish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lavandula
''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of perennial flowering plants in the sage family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World, primarily found across the drier, warmer regions of the Mediterranean, with an affinity for maritime breezes. Lavender is found on the Iberian Peninsula and around the entirety of the Mediterranean coastline (including the Adriatic coast, the Balkans, the Levant, and coastal North Africa), in parts of Eastern and Southern Africa and the Middle East, as well as in South Asia and on the Indian subcontinent. Many members of the genus are cultivated extensively in temperate climates as ornamental plants for garden and landscape use, for use as culinary herbs, and also commercially for the extraction of essential oils. Lavender is used in traditional medicine and as an ingredient in cosmetics. Description The genus includes annual or short-lived herbaceous perennial plants, and shrub-like perennials, subshrubs or small ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternative Medicine
Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are generally not part of evidence-based medicine. Unlike modern medicine, which employs the scientific method to test plausible therapies by way of Guidelines for human subject research, responsible and ethical clinical trials, producing repeatable evidence of either effect or of no effect, alternative therapies reside outside of mainstream medicine and do not originate from using the scientific method, but instead rely on testimonials, anecdotes, religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural "Energy (esotericism), energies", pseudoscience, fallacy, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. Frequently used terms for relevant practices are New Age medicine, wikt:pseudo-medicine, pseudo-medicine, unortho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is a practice based on the use of aromatic materials, including essential oils and other aroma compounds, with claims for improving psychological well-being. It is used as a complementary therapy or as a form of alternative medicine, and typically is used via inhalation and not by ingestion. Fragrances used in aromatherapy are not approved as prescription drugs in the United States. Although there is insufficient medical evidence that aromatherapy can prevent, treat or cure any disease, aromatherapy is used by some people with diseases, such as cancer, to provide general well-being and relief from pain, nausea or stress. People may use blends of essential oils as a topical application, massage, inhalation, or water immersion. Essential oils comprise hundreds to thousands of aromatic constituents, like terpinoids and phenylpropanoids, and to sufficiently research the pharmacological effects of essential oil constituents, each isolated constituent in the sele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
