Progress in Essential Oils

By: Brian M. Lawrence

Posted: September 24, 2007, from the October 2007 issue of P&F magazine.

Rosemary Oil and Extract

In 1993, Panizzi et al. analyzed four oils produced from plants growing wild in Italy, among which was rosemary (ex. Rosmarinus officinalis L.). In addition to screening these oils for their antimicrobial properties, they determined that the rosemary oil studied had the following composition:

alpha-pinene (28.91%)

camphene (4.13%)

beta-pinene (1.62%)

myrcene (1.94%)

limonene (2.55%)

1,8-cineole (17.50%)

gamma-terpinene (0.69%)

p-cymene (1.34%)

camphor (7.35%)

linalool (2.35%)

bornyl acetate (0.88%)

beta-caryophyllene (1.32%)

alpha-terpineol (6.22%)

borneol (8.58%)

verbenone (0.42%)

geraniol (1.47%)

While examining the antibacterial properties of rosemary oil produced from plants growing in the Botanic Garden in Naples (Italy), Boato et al. (1994) determined that the main components of the oil were as follows:

alpha-pinene (27.6%)

camphene (8.5%)

beta-pinene (2.1%)

myrcene (1.1%)

alpha-terpinene (2.2%)

p-cymene (1.7%)

1,8-cineole (29.3%)

limonene (2.0%)

linalool (1.5%)

camphor (12.1%)

delta-terpineol (1.9%)

borneol (4.7%)

alpha-terpineol (2.4%)

bornyl acetate (2.3%)

This is only an excerpt of the full article that appeared in P&F Magazine, but you can purchase the full-text version.