Many have contacted me to make sure that I am aware of the proposed amalgamation of the ISPA (International Society of Professional Aromatherapists), IFA (International Federation of Aromatherapists) and RQA (Register of Qualified Aromatherapists) into a new association (International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists) on April 1st this year. Many thanks, but I need little reminding because the various online aromatherapy “chat”groups are awash with conversation on the subject. 

Chat on the Internet is very similar to what it is anywhere. The biggest difference is that you don’t use your voice - you use your keyboard.  You type in your thoughts, and your words are viewed instantly by other people on their computer screens.  You can chat with one, two, or even hundreds of other people simultaneously.

First-time chat users might be a little overwhelmed by what they see on their computer screens. Sometimes a chat session has 20 or more people “talking”.  Some are talking to the group, and others are essentially having a private conversation that the group can view.  So it is a little confusing until you jump in.

Of course there is an awful lot of guff and, on occasions, quite heated personal debates.  Some seem to let their hearts rule their heads whilst others obviously give the matter considerable thought before committing type to screen. However, overall, they are a tremendous source of information.

An increasing number of Web sites offer chats. Usually, a visitor must become a member of the Web site to enter a chat, although some sites let visitors chat as guests.  The only challenge with Web-based chat is that you have to locate a site where other people are actually online. Chat is a real-time activity, and most people won’t try a chat too often if no one is ever there.

A forum is a different type of communication system. Forums are Web-based versions of newsgroups.  Members of the community enter messages about specific topics, and other members can see and respond to these messages. Because messages are stored on the Web site, members can jump in and share their thoughts at any time - it doesn’t have to be in real time.

A topic for discussion.
All AOC (Aromatherapy Organisations Council) registered aromatherapists will hopefully have read already an item which I saw recently posted for comment at an aromatherapy forum.

As I am sure you are aware, the ISPA, IFA and RQA are proposing to amalgamate into a new association on April 1st this year.  Each of these individual associations have now informed me that they will not be renewing their membership of the AOC at the beginning of this year.  It is my understanding that they will elect a new committee in October and may reconsider membership at that time.....It would seem that the decision to leave has been taken without consultation with their member aromatherapists, who are left un-represented on the AOC.....The AOC has a problem in as much as the AOC National Register of Aromatherapists is at present only open to therapists who belong to a member association. Unless changes are made, therapists currently registered with the above associations would have to be removed and lose their benefits.....The AOC has been working for the profession for more than ten years and has accomplished a huge amount which individual associations, no matter how large, cannot hope to achieve alone.....Surely we do not want to waste this tremendous achievement and find our profession as fragmented again as it was ten years ago.....The questions are simple.....Do you want the AOC to survive?.....Do you want to achieve Statutory Registration for the profession?.....Do you want to continue the progress that we have so successfully started?.....Do you want to maintain and increase the unanimity of our profession?  Mike Dowling - AOC Chairman.

From what I have read on the Internet, representatives of the ISPA and RQA seem to have cogent cases for their actions but I have not yet read anything official from the IFA. However I am mindful of Lord Chesterfield’s maxim.....

Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments give lustre, and many more people see than weigh.

Still when all is said and done I doubt that, without your support and your subscription, either knowledge or lustre will forge a united aromatherapy community. You have probably been told a hundred times: It’s up to you!  It really is, and time is running out. 

If any of this is news to you, make absolutely sure that you find out where you are going to stand at the end of the day because, in the final analysis, this is all about you and your future.

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favourable.
[Seneca (‘the Younger’) c.4 BC - AD 65: Epistulae Morales].

Should we ingest hydrosols?
Although an increasing number seem to recommend the ingestion of hydrosols, I would counsel strongly against it because we simply do not know what is in them and in what proportions. Unfortunately hydrosols seem to be marketed as homoeopathic derivatives of their parent essential oils, highly dilute and therefore safe.  But are they? To be honest I don’t know but I think that we should find out, and when in doubt drink nowt!

Essential oils and Hydrosols briefly compared.
Some last month obviously thought that I might be giving essential oils away, mistaking 100ml of Melissa hydrosol for a 100ml of Melissa essential oil!  All of which made me wonder how similar were the volatile components of the oil and hydrosol from the same distillation.
Thanks to Hilary Miflin, who produces these aromatic gems in the hills above Lac Leman, I was able with the aid of Dr. Bill Morden’s GC-MS and PT-TD-GC-MS analyses to do a few comparisons.

The Melissa oil (Melissa officinalis L.), amongst its major volatile components, contains citronellal (23.44%), geranial (16.22%), linalyl acetate (11.65%) and caryophyllene (11.77%). 

The main purgeable volatile organic components (PVOC) of the hydrosol, on the other hand, are 2-methylpropanal (17.13%), 3-methylbutanal (17.63%), 2-methylbutanal (11.44%), 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (4.72%) [which I would have expected to find in the oil but didn’t], geranial (7.59%), neral (4.78%) and linalool (4.60%).

Which product would be the more efficacious for aromatherapy purposes? I don’t know, you make the assessment. If like me, I doubt that you can.  I receive little or no information from the distiller, apart from the botanical source. None, I believe, yet has sufficient data to tell me any more. The literature on the subject, such as it is, is very thin and seems to assume that the hydrosols will have the same therapeutic benefits as their parent oils. But do they?

Comparative analyses of the Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens Heritier) reveal that the geraniol content of the oil is 40.82% but only 7.99% of the PVOC, whilst isomenthone content increases from 9.39% of the volatiles of the oil to 35.79% of the PVOC, and linalool content jumps from 10.36% to 30.91%.

Meanwhile we have just completed a three part analysis of some Catnip (Nepeta cataria L.) for Jeanne Rose, the distinguished author and distiller of hydrosols.

Catnip, a herbaceous perennial native to Europe and Asia, is completely naturalized in the United States where it can be found commonly occurring as a weed in wasteland along roadsides. Previous analyses have revealed that the chemical composition of the oil can vary quite considerably.

In 1967, Regnier et al. [Nepetalactone and Epinepetalactone from Nepeta cataria L. Phytochem., 6, 1271-1280] used GC-MS to show that the oil of catnip contained camphor (0.8%), caryophyllene (2.8%), a-humulene (0.3%), nepetalactone (77.6%), epinepetalactone (15.0%), and dihydronepetalactone (0.3%).

In the same year, the same team of researchers also showed that catnip oil obtained from plants found in Michigan and Nebraska contained varying proportions of nepetalactone and epinepetalactone.  For example, the Michigan oil contained nepetalactone (99%) and epinepetalactone (1%) whereas the Nebraska oil contained nepetalactone (60%) and epinepetalactone (40%).

A year later, D.L. Nelson [Methylcyclopentone monoterpenes of Nepeta cataria and Actindia polygama. Ph.D. thesis, Purdue University (1968)] reported that catnip oil contained nepetalactone, epinepetalactone, and isodihydronepetalactone (not dihydronepetalactone).

Jeanne’s oil contains mainly nepetalactone (90.83%) and small amounts of caryophyllene (3.30%), caryophyllene oxide (1.86%) and a trace of a nepetalactone isomer (0.87%).

The PVOC of the hydrosol are dominated by 3-methylbutanal (32.14%).  This aldehyde (isovaleraldehyde) occurs in several volatile oils and usually can be recognised by its disagreeable cough-provoking vapour and, for this reason, is often removed from the oil by fractionation.  It has been observed in American and French peppermint oils, Eucalyptus globulus, cajuput, niaouli, clove, Java citronella and East Indian sandalwood.  Amongst the other compounds, 2-methylbutanal occurs at 17.61% and nepetalactone at a comparatively lowly 18.55%.

The chemical composition of the oil taken from the hydrosol resembles more the profile of the original essential oil with 72.31% nepetalactone, caryophyllene (4.82%) and its oxide (3.08%), but I was most interested to detect what is probably dihydronepetalactone (13.00%). 

The ‘Odour Factor’.     
Unfortunately I am not yet sufficiently knowledgeable to draw any firm conclusions from these findings, but it does begin to explain the ‘Odour Factor’ mentioned by Suzanne Catty in Hydrosols:The Next Aromatherapy.....Hydrosols smell.  Some are strong, others mild.  Some smell nothing like the essential oil, while others are very similar to the oil.  However, hydrosols never smell exactly the same as the plant from which they are extracted.
 

She mentions that, whereas essential oil of Yarrow (Achillea millefolium All.) has a potent smell, intensely herb-like, sweet but with a sour edge like old balsamic vinegar, one of her clients described the odour of the hydrosol as being like “puppy breath”.  I am not surprised. Their respective chemical compositions are quite different, but I am still not quite sure what puppy breath smells like!

What to do with hydrosols?
I think that Jeanne Rose’s suggestion is the best idea: Spritz them just about anywhere! [375 Essential Oils and Hydrosols].  More specifically, you could try them for nappy rash, as skin toners after cleaning the face, laundry rinses, pet sprays, or aftershave soothers.  Also they can be added to any liquid or lotion in a ratio of 1 part hydrosol to 3 parts other material.   
 
I have adapted one of Suzanne Catty’s ideas for the bottom of my parrot’s cage.  Choose a good-quality paper towel that holds up when wet and doesn’t just disintegrate [I use the F.T.].

If possible remove the cardboard tube from the centre of the roll and cut the roll in half.  Put the half-roll of towel upright in a suitable container to which you have added two tablespoons of pure hydrosol.  Now sprinkle an additional two tablespoons of hydrosol on top of the roll so the paper absorbs from both top and bottom edges. Put the lid on and.....wet wipes!

The impregnated Financial Times acts in much the same way, keeping Birdie’s feet fresh and fungal-free! In fact I do it to deter flies, intent upon feeding on the detritus. It seems to work.

If hydrosols are to be The Next Aromatherapy I do believe that we need to know more about them and, hopefully, our pioneering work will not be in vain.

On the other hand, as some have so correctly pointed out, am I so questioning about my red wine and coffee?!


Tutankhamun and thymoquinone.
What on earth you may think has a long-dead, teenage Pharaoh to do with thymoquinone?  Well in truth not very much except that Black Cumin (Nigella sativa L.) was found in the burial chamber of Tutankhamun, and 2-Methyl-5-isopropyl-1,4-benzoquinone is one of the chemical compounds which occurs in the essential oil of Nigella sativa.

The role of black cumin in ancient Egypt, medicinal or otherwise, is unknown.  Dioscorides recorded that black cumin seeds were taken to treat headaches, nasal catarrh, toothache and intestinal worms, and, in large quantities, as a diuretic, to promote menstrual periods and to increase breast-milk production.  I believe that the seeds are still eaten in India today for very much the same purposes.

Although commonly known as Roman coriander, nutmeg flower or fennel flower, Nigella sativa actually belongs to the family of Ranunculaceae (buttercups). This annual herb is native to Turkey, Pakistan and Iran. Growing to about 30cm, it has an upright branching stem, fine deeply cut leaves, grey-blue flowers, and toothed seedpods. The seeds, which contain 40% fixed oil and up to 1.4% volatile oil, are gathered once they are ripe.

When I had Nigella sativa analysed some years ago it was the first time that I had stumbled across thymoquinone.  According to Guenther [The Essential Oils, Vol. II, p. 554], it seems to be the only true benzoquinone found in essential oils. I cannot recollect having found it in any other oils, although I understand that it does occur in Monarda fistulosa L. and a few other oils. According to The Aromatherapy Practitioner Reference Manual thymoquinone is antiasthmatic, antihistaminic, bactericide, carcinogenic and choleretic.

The case for Nigella sativa.
In a study conducted in 1992 by Ferdous et al. on the treatment of dysentery, essential oil of Nigella sativa was shown to be effective against several multiple drug-resistant organisms, such as Shigella, Vibrio cholera and E. coli [Ferdous, A.J., Islam, S.N. et al. 1992: In vitro antibacterial activity of the volatile oil of Nigella sativa seeds against multiple drug-resistant isolates of Shigella spp. and isolates of Vibrio cholerae and E. coli. Phytotherapy Research 6, 137-140]. The activity of the oil was compared with that of ampicillin, tetracycline, nalidixic acid, cotrimoxazole and gentamycin, and showed promising antibacterial activity against all of the bacterial strains tested, except for one strain of Shigella dysenteriae (strain 1548).

It was also shown to have a demonstrable sedative effect in a study by Khanna et al. This study demonstrated that the essential oil was more sedating than chlorpromazine, and it was also found to be analgesic, it was proposed that Nigella sativa contains an opioid-like component [Khanna, T. et al. 1993: CNS and analgesic studies on Nigella sativa. Fitoterapia 64, 407-10].

Is this perhaps why black cumin oil is an ingredient of a current, highly-regarded, back pain relief potion?

A recent study by Doctors Osama A. Badary and Ayman M. Gamal El-Din of the College of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt indicate the potential of thymoquinone as a powerful chemopreventive agent against 20-methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma tumours. It is suggested that the possible modes of action of thymoquinone may be through its antioxidant activity and interference with DNA synthesis coupled with enhancement of detoxification processes [Cancer Detection and Prevention 2001; 25(4): 362-368].     

Indian lavender, the real deal!
I have never quite understood why linaloe (Bursera delpechiana Poisson), or so-called “Indian Lavender Oil”, is not more widely used.  We supply it mainly to soapmakers, but I understand that it is useful also for acne, cuts, dermatitis, muscle spasms, stress, anxiety, and much more besides.

Anyhow I have just taken delivery of another batch from Bangalore and, upon analysis, I hope to find that it possesses a substantially higher ester content than its Mexican namesake.

Meanwhile I was interested to read in an old copy of Current Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (1995) about efforts to grow lavender (Lavandula officinalis Chaix) in Kashmir.

The first attempt to introduce the plant was made during the British period but it remained confined to gardens.  Sir Ram Nath Chopra conducted the first experiments to introduce the clones of L. officinalis Chaix and L. hybrida Rev. and observed that the plants thrived well in the Kashmir Valley and gave high quality oil.

I understand that today’s commercial exploitation started with five Karlovo and three Kazanlik clones from Bulgaria, and local lavender cuttings from the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Regional Centre, Yarikha, Tangmarg, Kashmir.

Karlovo yielded 25kg of oil from one hectare in the second year of growth, whereas Kazanlik had difficulty rooting and was confined to germ plasm.  Agronomical characters of the clone as well as physicochemical properties of the oil were within the limits of Bulgarian standards.

Ognyanov reported that the major components of Karlovo were ocimenes (7.7%), 1,8-cineole (2.5%), linalool (30.1%), linalyl acetate (35.2%) and terpinen-4-ol (4.6%) [Orgnyanov I., 1984, Perfum. Flav., 8(6), 29-41]. 

However the Kashmir Karlovo lavender oil which I have before me now, if that be what it is, is a far finer cocktail. A truly great smell. I think it even better than my favourite Pacific Blue.  Enjoy!

Finally.....
I am very sad to see the last of Aromatherapy World, the ISPA house journal, which set high standards and rarely let them slip. The front cover has always been a visual joy, and the final edition does not disappoint. From the Harry Smith Collection, the photograph of frosted rose hips is quite superb.

Meanwhile I await with real interest the new journal of the amalgamation, but hope most sincerely that whomsoever selects the front cover has as fine an eye for uplifting the spirit.

Art is the objectification of  feeling, and the subjectification of nature.
Suzanne K. Langer 1895-1985.

charles@essentiallyoils.com
 

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