Talk:Essential oil

Distillation

The passage: "Most oils are distilled in a single process. One exception is ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata) which is purified through a fractional distillation." is wrong. Ylang-ylang is not fractionally distilled, it is normally distilled in a single process. While it is distilled, at specific times, the operator takes away the partial result of the distillation, thereby creating different fractions, but not through fractional distillation. Marcussi2 (talk) 12:20, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

Expression

The cold pressing of Citrus rinds has nothing to do, apart from the name, with the process used to obtain olive oil. (cfr. " Most citrus peel oils are expressed mechanically or cold-pressed (similar to olive oil extraction)." Also, the notion that "Before the discovery of distillation, all essential oils were extracted by pressing." doesn't appear to hold water, and the referece used is not a scientific one Marcussi2 (talk) 13:40, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

Solvent Extraction

The chapter should be eliminated, since by ISO and pharmacopoeial definitions, essential oils are not obtained via solvent extraction. The products obtained via these methods are called pommades, concretes, absolutes or generally speaking "extracs". Marcussi2 (talk) 13:43, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

As antimicrobials

The phrase: "The most commonly used essential oils with antimicrobial action are: β-caryophyllene," etc. Is wrong in two ways. The cited molecules are not essential oils, and usually it is not isolated molecules that have been used as antimicrobials. Marcussi2 (talk) 13:47, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

Toxicity

The passage: " Many essential oils are designed exclusively for their aroma-therapeutic quality; these essential oils generally should not be applied directly to the skin in their undiluted form. " is misleading. Essential oils are not designed; products containing them are. There is no real difference between essential oils produced for one market or another, and there is no aroma-therapeutic quality, since there is only one way to produce oils. There might be essential oils that should not be used on the skin, but because of their intrinsic toxicity and not because of differences in process or "design". Generally speaking, NO essential oils should be used neat on the skin Marcussi2 (talk) 13:52, 16 January 2026 (UTC)