Aromatherapy through decades

The aromatherapy exists since thousands of years.
The Australian aboriginals cured their evils linked to the respiration by inhaling Tea tree smoke. In Egypt, the « Kyphi », a mixture from 60 plants, is served as remedy and also as a way to disinfect the population. Ointment and aromatic oils have been found in the grave of Egyptian pharaohs.
It is not a hazard that the Magi have presented Myrrh and ink to Jesus the new-born baby. Later, the only arm to fight against plague epidemic was the “4 robbers’ vinegar”, a synergy of Lavender, Peppermint, cinnamon and clove.
Although it has been discovered late, thanks to the distillation process revealed by Arabs around the 13th century, essential oils have a past rich of precious observations.

Since the twenty last years, aromatherapy benefits from a more and more precise scientific approach.
The empirical use of essential oils through the centuries has lead to make the therapeutic proprieties evident.
Most of them have been confirmed by a pharmacological test. Aromatherapy is located beyond phytotherapy which uses active molecules but often diluted inside less active constituents.
The biological activities of those essential oils are recognized and precautions must be considered especially for infants and young children.
Scientific research benefits from more and more performant technological proceedings and analytical materials which enable them to detect the presence of hundreds of constituents for one essential oil.

With the analytical subtility of those new techniques and the introduction of the “chemotype” (the « biochemical and botanical race») in the essential oils’ name, it has been proven that the components of one breed could vary according to :

- geographical origin (Pelargonium x asperum CV Egypt, Pelargonium x asperum CV Bourbon)

- the harvesting place, the degree of sun exposure, the humidity which gives different chemiotypes (thyme with thymol with géraniol at the seaside, with linalol in High-Provence)

- Extracted part from the plant
(Citrus reticulata (Tangerine ) leaves ( richer in esters 50% antispasmodic)
than Citrus reticulata zests (0 à 1%) –

- Cinnamomum verum à eugénol (Cinnamon) leaves (richer in phenols (70%)) than Cinnamomum verum écorces (richer in aldehydes).

Each essential oil has its originality and it is very important that they are not disconcerted especially during their use.

An essential oil has to be 100% pure, 100% natural, not altered from molecules issued from chemical synthesis.