Our Product Categories
Essential Oils
In most aromatic plants (plants that give off a vivid aroma or flavor/smell) there resides some essence. The essence is a complex array of molecules that support the plant in responding to the environment as well as to ensure its survival (such as repelling those that would east leaf mass, or attracting a pollinator).
Terpenes are the organic compounds that give flavors and aromas to all kinds of plants. These are more common in coniferous varieties, as well as the citrus plants. Essential oils are terpenic in nature, but may contain additional compounds.
To capture the essential oil, aromatic plant material, be it from seeds, roots, flowers, leaves, needles, cones, resins, or wood, is placed in a distillation unit, whereby steam is introduced to draw out the volatile (aromatic) molecules.
When the condensate is allowed to collect into a separation apparatus, the lighter oil will form a layer above the water mass; in some instances, the oil layer will be heavier than the water, and will form at thebottom of the apparatus. The oil layers are our pure essential oils.
CO2 Extracts
In some instances, especially with nuts, flowers and resins or drier mass, steam distillation is not an effective method to drive the fatty/butter ingridients from the plant. In some instances, a seed may contain a butter or fat which is denser and harder for steam to carry out from the source material.
Pure carbondioxide (CO2) becomes a great replacement for steam as a vehicle to drive the material from the source. Except, for CO2 to be useful in this regard, it has to be introduced to the source material at the right temperature and pressure. This is called a Supercritical Point.
We are using this SFE process to get pure products, comprising of essential oil extracts , butters and powders (and caffeine) from nuts, roots and dried matter. We are able to guarantee a more consistent product compared with alcohol extract or other methods.
Supercritical CO2 methods have several advantages over other extraction processes. They occur at lower temperatures than steam distillation, thereby preserving delicate volatile constituents, the solvent is nontoxic, odorless, and readily removed from the final product, the oils are more stable and have a longer shelf life, and the extraction process is environmental friendly!
Hydrosols / Floral Waters
Simply put, hydro – means water; and sol – means solution. Hydrosols are a solution of essential oil elements in water. The process of steam distillation produces substantial amounts of stream and upon condensation, there remains trace essential oil molecules in the water condensate. This condensate is the hydrosol.
Hydrosols are manufactured in every instance where steam distillation is used as the extraction process. Therefore, we produce as many hydrosols as there are essential oils. Compared to essential oils, hydrosols are cheaper and ready to use (require no further dilution with carrier oils).