Introduction
aroma
essential oil
What Is An Essential Oil?
Essential oils are aromatic compounds extracted from plants. These can be derived from all parts of the plant, like flowers (rose), woods (sandalwood), barks (cinnamon), leaves (geranium), roots (vetiver) and fruits (pink pepper). The oils is the plant's scent.
What Is An Aroma?
Think of hot coffee or freshly baked bread. Aroma is a very distinctive, and usually pleasant or savory smell. A fragrant scent, one that pleases the brain through nose. Ayurveda considers the use of aroma as an important tool for prevention and healing.
What Have We Got Here?
Geranium
Artemisia
eucalyptus
Aromatic Crops In INDIA
Of the 2,50,000 plant species on earth, about 3000 are aromatic, producing essential oil in one or another plant organ. Over 300 essential oils are in world trade but only less than 100 have large and consistent demand and hence regularly cultivated and traded. The most traded essential oils from India are geranium, patchouli, davana, eucalyptus, palmarosa, citronella, lemongrass, mints, basil, orange, clove leaf, sandal wood, lavender, jasmine and tuberose.
How Is Oil Extracted From Plants?
expeller
solvent extraction
Solvent Extraction
Fresh flowers or other plant material are treated with a chemical solvent. The "essential oils" of the plant material are dissolved by the solvent, the solvent is removed and what is left behind is a waxy aromatic compound called a concrete. The aromatic oils are extracted from the concrete using ethyl alcohol. Once the alcohol is removed, the remaining substance, called an absolute, is a very concentrated aromatic compound.
Expression
Anyone who has peeled a fresh citrus fruit knows the refreshing, energizing aroma. But citrus oils do not hold up well when heat is used in extraction so they are usually obtained by a method called expression. Expression is also known as the "expeller-pressed" or "cold-pressed" method of extraction since no heat is needed to extract the essential oil. In this process, oil is forced from the material under high mechanical pressure.
distillation
Distillation
One of the most natural, tradtional & widely used method. There are multiple distillation methods used. During this process the botanicals are placed into a still and hot steam is forced through the plant material. The hot steam forces open pockets aromatic compounds. The compounds escape from the plant material and evaporate into the steam. The steam must be hot enough to allow the release of the essential oil but not damaging the plant material. The steam with essential oil then passes through a cooling system where the steam condenses into a liquid consisting of essential oil and water. The essential oil can then be separated from the water. The water by-product of distillation is called a hydrosol or floral water.
Different Distillation Methods
hydro distillation
field distillation
Field Distillation
This method is similar to hydro distillation, however the material in question is not in direct contact with water but rather placed on a solid support above the boiling water so that steam can directly pass through it. For best yields, the material needs to be evenly distributed. Compared to hydro distillation, this method gives greater yields, oil quality is more reproducible, and the process is quicker than hydro distillation.
Hydro Distillation
In this method, the botanical material is immersed in water and boiled using direct heat, steam coil, or steam jacket. This process requires the material to be kept in motion to avoid degradation of dense material that may settle to the bottom of the apparatus. Essential oil is collected along with steam then separated post condensation. This process is used if the other two distillation methods are unfeasible.
steam distillation
Modulated Steam Distillation
Essential oils are mostly mixtures of terpenoid substances. They have relatively high boiling temperatures (frequently above 200°C). Their recovery by hydro/field distillation at atmospheric pressure is impractical because they undergo thermal decomposition at such high temperatures. Modulated steam distillation is carried out by passing steam with controlled parameters like pressure, temperature, moisture etc; through the plant material whereby the steam volatile compounds are volatilized, condensed and collected in receivers. In this method, the matrix is supported on a perforated grid or screen inserted slightly above the bottom of the still. This scheme does not allow direct contact with water, whereas the boiler can be inside or outside the still.
Who Are We...???
petrichor
elixirs
Elixirs
Miraculous, magical, and maybe a little mysterious; an elixir is a solution that cures the problem at hand. Once sought by alchemists, a hypothetical solution believed to maintain and prolong the life of the consumer. The word was introduced in late Middle English, through Latin from Arabic al-ʾiksīr. Elixirs should be stored in a tightly closed, light resistant container away from direct heat and sunlight; like essential oils.
Petrichor
The word represents the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. The word is constructed from Greek petra (πέτρα), "rock", or petros (πέτρος), "stone", and īchōr (ἰχώρ), the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. When a raindrop lands on a porous surface, air from the pores forms small bubbles, which float to the surface and release aerosols. Such aerosols carry the scent, as well as bacteria and viruses from the soil.
PEPL logo
The Company
Year 2012; a brilliant biotech postgraduate refuses to lucrative job offers and decides to pursue his obsession; the aroma. He begins with the market-available distillation unit. After almost 4 years of exhaustive experiance, he knows how inefficient & negligent the machinery and farming practises are. So, in the search of excellence & perfection, he found his old friend and schoolmate; with an well established business network. Year 2016, with an association of two long time friends; the Petrichor Elixirs Pvt. Ltd. (PEPL) is born with socialist objectives. PEPL, with proven record, has successfully re-defined, refined & improved the distillation process, aromatic farming practises and distillation machinery. Soon after begining and till the date, PEPL remains the leader and pioneer in the field.