Essential oil distillation

13 years ago

How many cups of fresh thyme would it take to get about 10 mL of thymol? Also, what can be used to separate oil from water (assuming that most people don't have access to ether)? Thanks.

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Comments (5)

scarletdaisies
13 years ago
I think you use a distiller for that, like making whiskey.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5661778_make-thyme-oil.html

The directions above infuse the thyme in olive oil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thymol

This is a Widipedia article on the subject.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070724070051AAbS0La

Here's more on it. But it seems thymol is a white powder in the oil extracted from the leaves of the plant. Maybe dehydrating the oil will find the white powder, not sure of the method.

http://www.ask.com/wiki/Cymene?qsrc=3044

It's apparently found in cumin also.
batyabeth
13 years ago
at the greenhouse in our school, the gardening teacher got her hands on a essential oil distiller. It costs about $350, and I lust after it. It looks like a small pressure cooker, with a main pot and a valve that looks like the steam valve on a commercial espresso maker. She filled it up with fresh rosemary, about 6 or 8 cups it looked like, of fresh herb, and put it on the fire. She got a small, medicinal bottle of fabulous essential oil. Did I mention I WANT one? I don't know where you would get one in the States, but as far as I'm concerned, it's the ultimate wish-list toy. Clip herbs, fill it up, light the fire, and Bob's yer uncle. Batya
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Only plants can make essential oils. These oils are the 'essence' of the plant, hence the name. The best we humans can do is to extract those oils, and to do this, we need vast amounts of plant material, and horribly expensive crushing and distilling equipment to do it with. I've only tried it with lavender, just for a giggle. Cram as much lavender into a saucepan as you can, and cover with water. Cover the pan, and simmer gently. After a while, when you lift the lid, you'll see some blobs of oil floating on top of the water. Syphon them off with an eye-dropper and bottle. That is the essential oil, but it will unavoidably be contaminated with a little water, so it won't store as long as the commercial essential oils. If you get a teaspoonful, you'll be doing nicely. The oil will evaporate quite quickly with the heat of the water. For the amount you get and the power to 'cook' it, you might as well pay for the commercial stuff. But to satisfy your curiosity, try my way, with different herbs of choice. It does make the house smell nice while you're mucking around with it!
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I have been looking into little alembics for a while, but I haven't taken the plunge yet. The little ones cost $200 and up, but if this is a serious hobby, money spent on a good alembic would make the process a lot easier. For a casual hobby, I'm not sure if it's worth it -- and there's the matter of storing the alembic and then getting it set up every time it's time to distill. Essentialoil.com has a few, and they have some instructions in how to use them, which is interesting to read about, even if you never go that far yourself. Here's a quickie homemade distillation process: 1. Start by puting a small clean brick into a large stock pot or canner, as a base for the pot that will catch the distillate. 2. Add water and a reasonable amount of the plant matter you are trying to distill. This will come up and over the brick a little, but not too much. 3. Set a heat-proof pan onto the brick. 4. Put a lid on the large pot and weight it down well. The lid really needs to fit tightly. 5. Bring the water to a boil and let it boil a little while. The essential oils will boil first with some water vapor, rise to the lid, condense, and drop down into the pot inside. Obviously, some will drop back into the water -- this isn't a perfect system. 6. You can put ice onto the lid if it has a rim. The encourages condensation to a certain extant, but I don't do that. The resulting distillate is fragrant, like rose water or orange flower water. I'm not sure this is type of distillate would have the strength you are looking for, but the process is fun and it does work.
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Well unfortunately with florals..you'll get quite a variety of interpretations of the scent. I personally like a Plumeria that I think is actually a Dupe of Bath and Body Works. Which is a blend of things, not just the "scent" of the flower. However if you are looking for a "truer" plumeria, you might want to look for a scent listed under Frangapini. Again I think almost all fragrance oils that are florals are blends, not "true" single "note" scents. Check out Oregon Trail Soaps..I'm pretty sure that Susan and Juan have devised some spot on florals though.
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I think you just let the gardenina flowers sit and steep in warm (just warmed not hot/boiling) oil and or in the sun. Implements/oil must be very sterile or mold will form. In tahiti where monoi de tahiti (gardenia oil) is popular I believe they use macadamia nut oil as the carrier. :)
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catmando6694
13 years ago
wow that sounds like something that could really add some revenue to people that sell products at the local farmer market and 350 isn't really that big of an investment i'm loving this idea
Kristiina DiOrio
13 years ago
Ykerzner, you should be able to get your hands on some ether. Mechanics use it as starting fluid when a vehicle is having fuel delivery problems. They inject it into the intake and tada the vehicle starts. As far as I'm aware, it shouldn't be hard to find at a part store. I'm not sure of the price. Might be cheaper than $350 though. ;-)

Have fun. I've dreamed of doing this too. I'm a sucker for grapefruit and would love to get some oils from the rinds. Let us know how it turns out.
ykerzner
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for that information, biinaboo. I had left off distillation over the winter, but still have a lot of thyme left over. I experimented with glass beakers (one inside the other) and a watchglass covered with ice to condense the vapor coming from the boiling mixture, and wound up with about 10 mL of water with a sharp smell of thymol. The hardest part was preventing evaporation and adding/removing ice, but hopefully the technique will improve.

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Essential oil distillation

Comments (5)

scarletdaisies

batyabeth

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catmando6694

Kristiina DiOrio

ykerzner
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Essential oil distillation

Comments (5)

scarletdaisies

batyabeth

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catmando6694

Kristiina DiOrio

ykerznerOriginal Author

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ykerzner
Original Author