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Lavender oil is an essential oil obtained by distillation from the flower spikes of certain species of lavender. Two forms are distinguished, lavender flower oil, a colorless oil, insoluble in water, having a density of 0.885 g/mL; and lavender spike oil, a distillate from the herb Lavandula latifolia, having density 0.905 g/mL. Like all essential oils, it is not a pure compound; it is a complex mixture of naturally occurring phytochemicals, including linalool and linalyl acetate. Kashmir Lavender oil is famous for being produced from lavender at the foothills of the Himalayas. France, traditionally the world's biggest lavender oil producer has been surpassed by Bulgaria and as of 2011, the biggest lavender oil producer in the world is Bulgaria.
Uses
Lavender oil has long been used in the production of perfume.
It is used in aromatherapy but there is little evidence that it does anything.
Oil of spike lavender was used as a solvent in oil painting, mainly before the use of distilled turpentine became common.
Research
Small clinical studies of Silexan, an oral preparation of lavender oil, have been found it may be useful for alleviating low-level anxiety and sleep disorders.
Lavender oil has been implicated in prepubertal gynecomastia, the abnormal development of breasts in pre-adolescent boys.
Composition
The primary components of lavender oil are linalool (51%) and linalyl acetate (35%). Other components include α-pinene, limonene, 1,8-cineole, cis- and trans-ocimene, 3-octanone, camphor, caryophyllene, terpinen-4-ol and lavendulyl acetate. The composition of lavender essential oil as obtained by chromatography:
| Family | Composition | Lavande officinale Lavandula angustifolia |
Lavande aspic Lavandula latifolia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terpenes / Monoterpenols |
 Linalool |
28.92 % | 49.47 % |
| α-Terpineol | 0.90% | 1.08% | |
| γ-Terpineol | 0.09% | ||
| Borneol | 1.43% | ||
| Isoborneol | 0.82% | ||
| Terpinen-4-ol | 4.32% | ||
| Nerol | 0.20% | ||
| Lavandulol | 0.78% | ||
| Terpenes / Terpene esters |
 |
32.98 % | |
| Geranyl acetate | 0.60% | ||
| Neryl acetate | 0.32% | ||
| Octene-3-yl acetate | 0.65% | ||
| Lavandulyl acetate | 4.52% | ||
| Terpenes / Monoterpenes |
Myrcene | 0.46% | 0.41% |
| α-Pinene | 0.54% | ||
| β-Pinene | 0.33% | ||
| Camphene | 0.30% | ||
| (E)-β-Ocimene | 3.09% | ||
| (Z)-β-Ocimene | 4.44% | ||
| β-Phellandrene | 0.12% | ||
| Terpenes / Terpenoid oxides |
 Eucalyptol (1,8-cineol) |
25.91 % | |
| Terpenes / Sesquiterpenes |
β-Caryophyllene | 4.62% | 2.10% |
| β-Farnesene | 2.73% | ||
| Germacrene | 0.27% | ||
| α-Humulene | 0.28% | ||
| Ketones |  Camphor |
0.85% | 13.00 % |
| 3-Octanone | 0.72% | ||
 Cryptone |
0.35% |
Production in Bulgaria
The gentle, mesmerizing aroma of the Bulgarian lavender oil is one of the most famous fragrances used for aromatherapy, cosmetics, pharmacy and perfumery.
The lavender oil is extracted by the age-old method of steam distillation used by the Bulgarian lavender producers for generations.
The stills are loaded to capacity by hand with lavender flowers using pitchforks. Steam generated in the boiler is then passed through the still. The heat of the steam causes the oil in the flowers to vaporize and the oil vapour travels with the steam into the condenser to be cooled and to condenses back into liquid. The liquid mixture of water and oil flows into the separator where the oil rises to the top and is ready to be skimmed.
References
- Bulgarian lavender producers worried about demand drop, China Post, 14 July 2011
- N. Groom. New Perfume Handbook. Springer Science & Business Media, 1997 ISBN 9780751404036
- ^ National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Last updated March 2008. Herbs at a Glance: Lavender
- "Solvent", pp 605-606 in The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art, edited by Gerald W. R. Ward. Oxford University Press, 2008 ISBN 9780195313918
- Kasper S (2013). "An orally administered lavandula oil preparation (Silexan) for anxiety disorder and related conditions: an evidence based review". Int J Psychiatry Clin Pract (Review). 17 Suppl 1: 15–22. doi:10.3109/13651501.2013.813555. PMID 23808618.
- Henley DV, Korach KS (July 2010). "Physiological effects and mechanisms of action of endocrine disrupting chemicals that alter estrogen signaling". Hormones. 9 (3): 191–205. doi:10.14310/horm.2002.1270. PMID 20688617.
- A. Prashar, I. C. Locke, C. S. Evans (2004). Cytotoxicity of lavender oil and its major components to human skin cells. Cell Proliferation 37 (3), 221–229.
- "Into the lavender". Into the lavender. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ^ "Into the lavender". Into the lavender. Retrieved 2015-10-05.