Introduction Aromatherapy is a holistic approach to health care. It treats the whole body including the physiological, psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects of it. Essential oils are used for maintaining the body in good health by strengthening and supporting the person to throw off the illness or disease, as well as having an action on the disease process. Essential oils are derived from parts of the plants. They are extracted from the either flowers, leaves, bark, roots, or seeds.
Many essential oils come from culinary herbs like basil, marjoram, rosemary and mint.
The oils are located in different parts of the plant eg flowers of lavender, and the leaves of rosemary. They are also extracted from culinary spices eg the seeds of anise and caraway, the flower buds and leaves of the clove tree, the bark of cinnamon and rhizomes of ginger. Fruits and vegetables also contain essential oils eg lemon, orange, carrots and celery. Flower oils include rose, geranium and jasmine, while those from resin and leaves include pine, bay and eucalyptus, to name but a few. Therefore in order to obtain the best quality of essential oil, it is necessary to extract it at exactly the right time.