Essential Oil of French Lavender— Its Composition and Its Adulteration

The composition of oil of French lavender is extremely complex. Of the approximately 150 constituents presently identified, most are only present in trace quantities. However, they play a very important role in the overall fragrance of this oil. There are numerous other constituents still to be identified.

Among the numerous identified constituents are hydrocarbons, oxides, alcohols, esters, ketones, aldehydes, lactones and phenols.

Figure 1 is a chromatogram of a typical French lavender on which thirty-nine characterizing constituents are identified. The conditions under which the chromatographic analyses were made follow:

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