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History

The first uses of oil extracted from plants are cited from works created by Pliny the Elder who outlined the preparation of Turpentine oil from trees in AD 23-79. During the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, recipes and instructions for use of essential oils were created and written down. Many of these used new herbs and plants that were discovered and brought to Europe from the East during the Crusades (1095-1291). The composition of true essential oils though, was not understood until the nineteenth century. The term essential oil derives from the theory of Quinta essential, proposed by Theophratstus von Hohenheim, that states that distilling the plant, separates out the essential, most desirable, parts. Von Hohenheim, also known as Paracelsus, was influential in incorporating alchemy into medicine. He promoted the idea that distillation gives access to the essential constituents of the plants, which have the most useful health benefits. This is the fundamental belief behind the use of essential oils today.

Concrete evidence of using the process of distillation to extract oils from plants can be traced back to Arabia circa 980-1037. Arabian Alchemist, Avicenna, described the process of steam distillation of aromatic waters in his works. Many artifacts, though, have been found dating back as far as 3000 BC that may resemble primitive apparatus’ used for distilling aromatic waters. The first description of using distillation for essential oils, specifically, is generally attributed to the Spanish physician Arnaldus de Villa Nova (1235–1311) in the thirteenth century. In the 1600s, German scientist J.R. Glauber created new distillation devices used for the preparation of essential oils from aromatic plants, that became the basis for our modern techniques. The use of chromatographic separation methods and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in chemistry has allowed increased knowledge in essential oil constituents, which has led to considerable advances in analytical methods in the course of the last half century. These have greatly increased our understanding of how essential oils function for human health.

Use in Active Packaging and Edible Coatings

Besides medical uses, much emerging research has promising results for the use of essential oils in food preservation. These function as an alternative to commonly used non-natural preservatives and traditional plastic or paper packaging. These may aid in retaining quality, longevity, and increasing function of food, without waste or harmful chemicals. Specifically, essential oils have been shown to function as active packaging and as edible coatings, that can be used to naturally extend the shelf life of some foods.

Essential oils rich in eugenol, thymol, and carvacrol, as well as isolated terpenes, have been used as components of active packaging to reduce the microbial decay of food. When used in meat preservation, essential oils protect food from oxidation. Edible films of chitosan incorporated with thymus essential oil have been shown to increase antioxidant, as well as antibacterial effect, of the food when consumed, which may indicate health and safety benefits of using essential oils in food.

Rosemary essential oil, as well, is incredibly popular in food preservation because of its characteristic scent and ability to stop the breakdown of food. Rosemary essential may be used to enrich the flavor, but also prolong the shelf life of meats.