A. Essential oils are extracted from certain varieties of trees, shrubs and herbs. The oil is concentrated in different parts of the plant. Depending on the plant, the essential oil is stored in specialized oil or resin cells, glandular hairs, or scales, which have tiny reservoirs. The oil is extracted from the plant by a variety of means, depending again on the particular plant species. The most common method is steam distillation, although other important methods are solvent extraction, expression, enfleurage, and maceration.
Much work is required to produce a small amount of essential oil.
Approximately sixty thousand rose blossoms are required to produce one ounce of rose oil, whereas in the lavender plant the essential oil is more abundant and about 220 pounds of lavender will yield 7 pounds of oil. In the case of jasmine, the flowers must be picked by hand before air temperature rises on the first day they open. The price of each essential oil reflects these conditions, and because it takes about eight million hand picked jasmine blossoms to produce 2.2 pounds of oil, one can understand why jasmine is one of the most expensive oils on the market. The same species of plant grown in different countries under different soil and altitude conditions will produce oils which differ in their chemical makeup and therapeutic properties. On average, an essential oil contains one hundred components.