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~ Third in a series of articles on perfume ~

Can't get enough of chemistry? Well, you're in the right place. Though you non-chemistry majors may not believe it, the scientific methods for extracting the essential oils of flowers and plants are just as interesting as the flowers and plants from which they are extracted. Even Jolique, who has no chemistry background whatsoever, found this information way cool.

In The Flora and Fauna of Essential Oils, Jolique discusses the various sources for essential oils used in perfume-making. In this article, however, Jolique discusses how these oils are extracted from their plant sources. There are several extraction methods for the essential oils of plants. They are:

• distillation
• solvent extraction
• enfleurage
• maceration
• expression or cold-pressing

Demystifying Distillation

Distillation is a process used in the extraction of 80% of all plant essential oils. Its use dates back to the alchemists of the second and third centuries A.D., but reached its final form in the 13th century, when the process of condensation using cold water was mastered. How does it work? (See author's overly-simplistic, "I-was-never-a-chemistry-major-can-you-tell?" illiustration below:)

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