When beggars die, there are no comets seen
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

A  strange quote, perhaps, with which to commence this month's Newsletter but, to  put it into context, I should explain that I am writing this at precisely  11.20BST on August 11th 1999.  Today's solar eclipse will be seen by more people than any in history.  Observers have been spotting a link between the behaviour  of the heavens and events on earth for centuries: to wit the sighting of Halley's comet before the Battle of Hastings and the death of King Harold.  So why not eclipses?

In fact I am not anticipating anything untoward, although closer investigation of the Saros cycle (an 18-year pattern in eclipse behaviour) and severe downturns in  the London Stock Market might convince me  that share prices are about to top out.  Among the key dates in the Saros cycle this century is 1973, when the heady days of flower power and Woodstock were  still resonating around the world and our son Justin was born.  Books such as  Small is Beautiful were capturing the spirit of the age, it was a time when the  values of big business were being challenged.
Fashion, Fad, or Upwardly  Mobile?
Lucia van der Post, whose guide to goodies for City lads and lassies I have followed for years, in a recent edition of the Financial Times How To Spend It supplement, reminds me that 26 years ago, in Germany, Jurgen Klein, a  biochemist, and his wife Ulrike, a naturopath,  were trying, with little success, to sell naturally-based products.  Also in Germany, Dr. Hauschka, a homoeopathic doctor, was developing his range of pure beauty creams, while in  the United States, Horst M. Rechelbacher, the son of an Austrian herbalist, was  starting to turn his herbal heritage into a small range of goodies for customers  of his hair salons.  In France, Olivier Baussan was doing much the same thing, using the fields of Provence as his outdoor larder.  But these people were  visionaries, not capitalists.  Are any of them familiar to you?

Meanwhile  in Britain, Anita and Gordon Roddick were getting on with building The Body Shop.  For years, The Body Shop seemed to have the field to itself.  It grew and grew, going public in a wave of popularity and oversubscribed shares.  But  today, at a time when the philosophies on which it was founded are flourishing as never before, The Body Shop itself is floundering.  In the meantime, those  small companies with the obscure-sounding names are coming into their own. 

If I mention Jurlique, l'Occitane and Aveda, you may be more aware about whom I am writing. These cult beauty houses, for years considered by many to be  a little wacky and the preserve of  the cognoscenti, are on the up.  Success has  been a long time coming but, as Jurgen Klein of Jurlique says, This is a new  time, there is a new understanding around and people are willing to embrace our ideas.  I should say they are: Jurlique is growing each year by something  between 50% and 100%!  Meanwhile, l'Occitane, Olivier Baussan's Provençal herb  and plant-based company, which started at the same time as The Body Shop and with which it shared many ideals, has 140 shops around the world and a new one opens somewhere every 20 days!  Horst Rechelbacher's company, Aveda, was recently bought by Estée Lauder for £242m!  Of all the cult beauty companies, it is Dr. Hauschka, started by the late homoeopathic doctor, that is probably the least commercially ambitious and, it seems, generally agreed, the purest of the  pure.  Besides a commitment to using no petrochemical fertilisers or pesticides,  these companies share an interest in indigenous cultures.  Our most valuable resource, says Horst Rechelbacher, is indigenous peoples; they are the living  libraries of ancient wisdom and ways.

Paradoxically, I would have thought  that The Body Shop had done more than most to cherish this valuable resource,  and yet today it seems to have lost its way.  Why?  Its perceived image, many  suspect.  As Lucia puts it...If you are going to do "pure", you have to do it in expensive, highly concentrated forms.  Users of the new wave of pure beauty  products seem to like the notion that they have discovered a secret not known to the rest of the world.  Be this the case, essential oils and aromatherapy could have a bright future in the new millennium. 

Much Ado About Niaouli.
Of all the names of essential oils the one with which most have  difficulty pronouncing is NIAOULI.  How many, I wonder, have inadvertently ended  up with Neroli!  Perhaps we should use the French term Gomenol, named after  Gomen the old centre of production in New Caledonia, to avoid further  confusion.

Melaleuca quinquenervia (Cav.) S.T. Blake is synonymous with Metrosideros quinquenervia, Melaleuca smithii, Melaleuca maidenii and several others; Melaleuca leucadendron var. viridiflora and Melaleuca viridiflora have been misapplied to this species, the last particularly in publications dealing with the chemistry of volatile leaf oils prior to 1968 (vide The Essential Oils,  Vol. IV, Guenther).  Another source of confusion is that this species also has  several chemovars which produce leaf oils of differing  composition.

Five-veined paperbark, broad-leaved paperbark, numbah or belbowrie relishes swampy ground.  It is common along the coastal strip of New  South Wales north of Kernell near Sydney, all the way to Cape York Peninsula at  the northern tip of Queensland.  It also occurs in Indonesia, New Caledonia and southern Papua New Guinea.  It produces a large penetrating root system.  Roots grow vigorously and, if the main trunk is severed, quickly produce new shoots.   Shoots can also appear some distance from the main trunk, and thus trees quickly  spread to colonize suitable areas.  This is well demonstrated in the Florida  Everglades, to which it was introduced in 1906 to turn what was then regarded as merely useless swamp into productive timber plantations.

When we lived in Vanuatu, we used to escape to New Caledonia for a touch of the good life.  This French island possession, 800 miles off the east coast of Australia, offered the  finest French restaurants, superb shops, wonderful beaches and, rather  incongruously, prices quoted in Japanese Yen.  Most shop assistants also spoke  Japanese!  It had an outstanding marine aquarium and excellent zoo where I  befriended a pair of hornbills, much to the consternation  of Japanese tourists  and the embarrassment of Jan and Justin.  Once you get them going, they are extremely vocal birds and I found that I could "call" them at will from several  hundred yards away.  Great characters, but a little too large to get on the flight with us back to Port Vila.  Happy days!

Whilst there, I was able to confirm what Ernest Guenther had written: during certain periods of the year  large quantities of fallen leaves cover the ground, and, since they contain an oil which acts as a strong disinfectant, the native population attributes the  healthy air of New Caledonia and the absence of malaria in certain areas to the  occurrence of M. quinquenervia in these localities.  In fact, because of my involvement at that time with Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia Cheel), I had considerable difficulty convincing my French counterparts in Noumea that Tea Tree was not Niaouli, or vice versa! 

The oil yield from steam-distilled fresh foliage and twiglets is 1.5-3.5% since there is considerable variation between individual trees; oil yield from field stills in New Caledonia is normally below 1.5%.  Similarly to M. alternifolia there are strains or regional  types whose leaf oil contains more or less cineole; one strain common in New Caledonia yields oil with a high 1,8-cineole content.  Oil is obtained wholly  from wild trees and these are more than sufficient to meet present demand. 

There are three major chemovars in Australia; one produces cineole-rich  oil almost identical with that from New Caledonia, the others produce oil rich  in nerolidol and linalool.  The first has an odour similar to medicinal  eucalyptus, but is softer and sweeter; var. nerolidol can contain in excess of 90% trans-nerolidol and is sweet and floral smelling, reminiscent of neroli,  rather than woody; var. linalool is probably the sweetest smelling of all melaleucas and contains linalool and trans-nerolidol.   

Four chemovars have been identified in Madagascar: a chemovar having a high 1,8-cineole content  (37%); a chemovar relatively rich in 1,8-cineole (23%), viridiflorol (20%), and terpinolene (5%); a viridiflorol chemovar (48%); and a trans-nerolidol (87%) chemovar.  The 1,8-cineole and trans-nerolidol chemovars represented 70% of the tree population surveyed  (Ramanoelina, P.A.R., et al.  Occurrence of various chemotypes in niaouli (Melaleuca quinquenervia) essential oils from Madagascar  using multivariate statistical analysis. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (1994) 42 (5) 1177-1182).

Almost all the oil produced in New Caledonia is exported to France under preferential tariffs.  New Caledonian  niaouli oil is a white to pale or greenish yellow oily liquid, and generally  resembles medicinal eucalyptus oil.  The slight differences however are  sufficient to give niaouli the specific taste and flavour preferred in France.  Its main use is as a direct substitute for eucalyptus in medical and  pharmaceutical products. 

Due to competition from similar eucalyptus oils Australia ceased production of niaouli in the mid-70s, which probably  accounts for the fact that it is not quoted as a producer country in more recent aromatherapy literature.  However, I am delighted that it is once again being wild harvested there and that I can offer it for your consideration.  Its  aromatherapy applications appear to be legion: in fact, far too many to mention here!

Horse Sense?
I am the first to admit that, as a zoologist, I was  a little sceptical when I first met the distinguished equine phytotherapist, Caroline Ingraham, and some of her students.  In fact, on occasions, I suspect  that I had difficulty concealing my scepticism.  However, super ladies that they are, they persevered with me and, with considerable patience and logic, convinced me that horse sense may indeed be plain common sense.

Caroline writes, in her handy Aromatherapy for Horses, that horses are very sensitive to  smell.  Horses instinctively smell essential oils in the correct way.  They will first smell with one nostril, which connects to one side of the brain, and then  will turn (if the oil interests them) and smell with the other nostril, which  connects to the other side of the brain.  If the aroma offers no therapeutic  value the horse will turn away.  Horses will often show more interest in the  therapist's selection of oils than in their feed or carrots.

It is  difficult enough sorting out human olfactory preferences, but catering for  equine tastes has me in a real dither.  First, horses seem to have a predilection for the more exotic end of the market: seaweed absolute and black currant bud absolute, amongst others, would you believe?  Let's check their choice.

Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus L.), from which our seaweed  absolute is produced, is one of the richest sources of minerals, chiefly iodine,  sodium, manganese, sulphur, silicon, zinc and copper, and is a brown seaweed,  found growing off the coast of the Northern Atlantic, the Pacific, and the  Baltic Sea, which transforms inert inorganic substances from the sea into organic minerals capable of nourishing the human body.

Having an  anti-hypothyroid, anti-obesic and anti-rheumatic action, it has been used internally for obesity and rheumatism, and as a massage for cellulite.  It is often called the anti-fat herb.  It stimulates the circulation of the lymph.  I have also read that it can allay the onset of arteriosclerosis by maintaining elasticity of walls of blood vessels. 

Recently anti-HIV-active polysaccharides and polyphenols were isolated from Fucus vesiculosus.  This was  done during studies to isolate antiviral compounds from marine organisms.  It  was noted that the extract inhibited the activity of the human immuno-  deficiency virus (HIV) reverse transcriptase (RT) enzyme, as well as HIV-induced synctium formation (J. Natural Prod., 56 (4), 478-488, 1993).

In truth, I  have done insufficient research on seaweed absolute to confirm whether the above  actions can be attributed specifically to it, but it is said that life started  in the seas, and many researchers feel that the sea holds the secret to life  itself.  Smart gee-gees! 

Black Currant (Ribes nigrum L.), as you know,  is a bushy shrub cultivated for its edible fruits. The fruit, rich in sugars  (10-15%) and organic acids, contains, among other constituents, flavonol glycosides and anthocyanins.  The leaves contain a small amount of essential oil, many flavonoids, and dimeric and trimeric prodelphinidins, which would be in part the basis of their anti-inflammatory activity.

The fruit is used  to prepare extracts enriched in anthocyanins; these extracts are ingredients of drugs designed to treat the symptoms of cutaneous capillary fragility.  They are also used to treat traditionally the subjective symptoms of venous insufficiency, and to relieve the symptoms of piles.  Also, it is generally accepted (and is confirmed by electro-retinography) that anthocyanins, by  facilitating the regeneration of rhodopsin, improve vision in poor light.

Based on tradition, phytopharmaceuticals containing black currant  leaves may claim the following indications: to facilitate renal and digestive elimination functions, and to enhance the renal excretion of water.  The leaves are also used in the symptomatic treatment of minor painful symptoms of the joints, and as an adjunct in weight loss programmes.       

Contemporary phytotherapy prescribes the preparations based on buds in the same fashion.  These are rich in diterpenoid acids, and are prized for their essential oil, which is used in food technology.  The composition of the oil varies with cultivars, but the main constituents are almost always hydrocarbons.  Our  current batch, of which I have an analysis in front of me, contains, amongst others, 3-carene (22.27%); sabinene (3.31%); limonene (5.1%); beta-phellandrene  (3.46%); and, interestingly, cryptone (1.4%) and spathulenol (6.77%). 

These horses certainly seem to have it sorted, don't they?  Therefore when told that, given the choice, one horse preferred one carrot seed oil to another I thought that I had better take its opinion seriously!
Carrots  considered.
Cultivated in many countries for culinary purposes, the common carrot is an annual or biennial herb with erect, much-branched stem, which can  grow to 1.5m high!  The common cultivated carrot, Daucus carota L. subsp.  sativus (Hoffm.) Arcang., has an edible fleshy, orange-red taproot, while the wild carrot, or Queen Anne's lace (on account of its umbels of lacy white  flowers), Daucus carota L. subsp. carota, has an inedible, tough whitish root. 

Carrot seed oil is steam distilled from the dried fruit (seeds).  Production of the essential oil is mainly concentrated in France, although Holland and Hungary produce minor quantities.  Carrot root oil is obtained by solvent extraction of the red carrot (root) and contains high levels of carotenes.

Whilst the literature differentiates between the oils  distilled from the seed of the two types of carrot, I have read in older  literature (Guenther, The Essential Oils, Vol. IV, 1950) that both qualities of seed are used for distilling purposes and that no differentiation is made in France when supplying the distilleries with seed.  Normally the seed is first  crushed, and then distilled with direct steam, care being taken that the steam  does not form channels through the seed material in the still, which would  result in a subnormal yield of oil.  Oil content is very variable, from 0.05 to  7.15% (B.M. Lawrence, Perfum. Flavor., 1990, 15, 4, 63).  However, like celery  seed (Apium graveolens L. var. dulce (Mill.) Pers.), carrot seed can be  distilled without crushing, and this will minimize the carry-over of odourless fixed oil (palmitic, etc.) in the distillate.

Carrot seed oil is a yellow  or amber-coloured to pale orange-brown liquid of peculiar dry-woody, somewhat  root-like, earthy odour.  The initial notes are sweet and fresh, but the  tenacious undertone and dryout is very heavy, weset-earthy, fatty-oily, slightly  spicy.

Dr. Brian Lawrence, the editor of Essential Oils 1976-1994 (5  volumes), has examined the chemical composition of a range of hydro-distilled carrot seed oils produced from seeds either of cultivated forms of carrot wild  seed or seed obtained from botanic gardens.  In addition to the oil content  being very variable, chemically, the essential oil was quite complex with wide  ranges of variance in many compounds.  For example, the variation in some  chemical compounds of ten different carrot seed oils: alpha-pinene  (1.03-29.02%); beta-pinene (0.19-10.89%); limonene (0.21-14.01%); sabinene (0.37-60.41%); carotol (0.02-54.87%); geraniol (0.22-32.56%); geranyl acetate  (0.31-52.85%) and caryophyllene oxide (0.07-30.8%).  Plenty of scope for equine choice, I would have thought!

Carrot Seed for Humans.
Although there are no accurate medicinal data on this oil, many of the following actions are  attributed to infusions or alcoholic solutions of the whole seed: anthelmintic, antiseptic, carminative, depurative, diuretic, hepatic, cytophylactic and  stimulant.  There are even suggestions that it might be anti-diabetic, anti-hypercholesterol and a liver regenerator.

Respected aromatherapy references suggest that it is useful for the treatment of dermatitis, eczema,  psoriasis, wrinkles, and that it aids dry skin and revitalises the basal layer.  There is also evidence that it assists circulation and aids muscular tension.      

Franchomme and Pénoël (l'aromathérapie exactement)  suggest that it might be useful for the treatment of hypotension and  neurasthenia.  Shirley Price in her Aromatherapy Workbook mentions that it is  hormonal in action and helps the pituitary gland to regulate the production of  thyroxine and the release of ova.  It is also said to ease PMT.

Tricia Davis writes, in her Aromatherapy An A-Z, carrot seed oil has a powerful tonic action on the liver and gall-bladder, and is used in the treatment of jaundice and other liver disorders.

Tested at low dose non-toxic, non-irritating and non-sensitizing, most sources say avoid in pregnancy although Shirley Price  comments that it does not appear to be contra-indicated in pregnancy (perhaps because of its high alcohol content and hormonal action).  Comments?

Australian Extravaganza.
Tim has really excelled himself  this month, not only stretching my research endeavours to the limit but also  securing a source of long-sought Buddah Oil (Eremophila mitchelli Benth.).  Amongst his other discoveries is Swamp Paperbark (Melaleuca ericifolia Smith).   I had hoped that ericifolia was synonymous with hypericifolia, as I have  information on the latter, but Economic Plants of Australia reveals that it is indeed a separate species, although its geographic range and habitat are  remarkably similar to that of hypericifolia except that it has managed to  penetrate the State of Victoria and crossed the Bass Strait into Tasmania.  Still, whilst writing, I might as well tell you a little about M. hypericifolia  as Tim will probably come up with this next month!        

Examining the  photograph in front of me I recognise, from its striking red "bottlebrush"-like flowers, this plant from my days in Australia where it is widespread in the  coastal districts of New South Wales and southern Queensland.  Rarely growing  above 6 metres in height, its young leaves have a velvety, dull appearance and the crushed foliage is quite aromatic and is sniffed by the Aboriginals for the  relief of headache.  According to A Phytochemical Register of Australian Plants (Vol. 1, Melbourne, 1959), the essential oil in the foliage contains about 80%  1,8-cineole. 

In this regard M. ericifolia does seem to differ, as the distillers tell me that it has a distinct floral note due to its linalool and terpineol content and can be blended with Tea Tree Oil (M. alternifolia Cheel) to improve the odour.  Could be interesting: I look forward to analysing it.  Meanwhile, I have established that it was amongst those oils, such as river tea  tree (M. bracteata F. Muell.) and narrow-leaved honey-myrtle (M. linariifolia Smith), from which a therapeutic oil was distilled in colonial times.

Meanwhile Tim has totally beaten me to it as I have not yet been able to lay my hands on the research report, The ethnopharmacology of Eremophila species  (Myoporaceae) by E.L. Ghisalberti, which was published in Journal of  Ethnopharmacology (1994) 44 (1) 1-9, in which the ethnopharmacology and phytochemistry of Eremophila species, important in the pharmacopoeia of the Aboriginal, are discussed with the aim of providing leads for  phytopharmacological evaluation.  In truth, I do not even know if E. mitchelli  is amongst those plants discussed as there are about 180 species of Eremophila  endemic to Australia.  For the time being, therefore, I can only reiterate what  I wrote back in February.

Bastard Sandalwood, as Buddah Oil is often called, is neither a substitute nor an alternative to East Indian sandalwood  (Santalum album L.) but, according to Ernest Guenther, possesses marked blending  and fixative properties, which places its value in line with those of the fixative balsams.  I, however, remain most interested by the three closely  related sesquiterpene ketones, eremophilone, 2-Hydroxyeremophilone and  2-Hydroxy-2-dihydro- eremophilone, which the oil contains.  Possessing a sweet, long-lasting, woody note reminiscent of vetiveryl acetate, it is suggested that  its chemistry is related to that of Agarwood (Aquilaria agallocha Roxb.).   Having grappled with the chemistry of Agarwood for several months without  singular success, do not expect a quick answer on Buddah  Oil!

Finally....
I hope that it stops raining!

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