Three o’clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do, commented Jean-Paul Sartre.  How right!

The other Sunday, Jan, Justin and I motored down to Ewell Village to celebrate my sister’s 60th. Despite constant damping drizzle and sporadic patches of fog, we were in Epsom in about 90 minutes. Normally the place seems pretty quiet but, on this occasion, a Farmers’ Market was in full swing and it took us another 45 minutes to navigate through poorly parked cars and heavily-burdened shoppers to reach our destination just around the corner.  Still, the farmers’ produce looked good and wholesome and I was sorely tempted by the local cheeses.

After an excellent lunch, in a most convivial Italian restaurant in the Village, I began to “tick” about the journey home. I thought it perhaps a little impolite to leave at three - we had only arrived at one - but I just knew that if I left it later I would miss the light and the opportunity to exercise the dogs.  Whilst Mung responds immediately to the whistle, young Mick is far less compliant and the thought of rummaging through damp undergrowth with a torch lacked appeal.

Why is it that goodbyes seem to take so long?  I must have bid farewell to the same people more than half a dozen times. As it was, we left at four.  The M25 was already gridlocked: ‘steaming’ cars stood abandoned, as ‘flashing’ recovery vehicles battled through the untimely roadworks to their rescue.  We arrived home in Leafield four hours later. How on earth do people cope? To think that I used to commute 140 miles every day by car makes me shudder.

Trendy, or tragic?
Dogs fed and watered, feet up, restorative glass in hand, I flicked idly through the Financial Times ‘how to spend it’ Supplement.  Although I am well past ‘spending it’ on fashion items which look more like fancy dress to me and exorbitantly expensive bejewelled baubles that would not look out of place amongst the crown jewels, I like to keep an eye upon current trends: Oudh the Obscure.

Good Lord, it seems that I might be more up to date than I imagine: I wrote about oudh, or agarwood, only last month.  It seems that it is creating quite a stir in the perfumery industry.

It knocks you over, clubs you like a falling stone, writes Chandler Burr of oudh in The Emperor of Scent, the true-life tale of perfume expert Luca Turin. Its vast dimension is what astonishes: a huge smell, spatially immense and incredibly complex, a buttery layer as deep as a quarry, entirely animalic in impact, and yet the oudh itself is not actually an animalic, spicy without being a spice, Burr comments.  The fungi - the tiny organic bugs that have eaten, digested and defecated this sensual wood - have left behind their fragrance and oudh is the smell of this rotten, priceless wood and billions of tiny dead animals.

My word, I used to think that Steffen Arctander was a master of perfume description but Chandler Burr makes him sound almost amateurish. Priceless? Not quite but, at between £17,000 and £28,000 a kilo in its purest form, it is one of the rarest and most expensive ingredients in perfumery.  It is costly because it is in short supply and takes a long time to produce.

The supply of naturally decaying agarwood is dwindling, says Dr. Peter Wilde.  Good heavens! I haven’t heard from Peter Wilde in years, for surely it must be him: if so, it is he who introduced the wonderful world of phytols to aromatherapy.  One of the most innovative scientists of his generation, it seems that he may have popped up as ‘a botanist who runs a flower plantation and extraction plant in north-eastern Thailand’. I met Peter first in Spain in 1979.

The oudh used in perfumery is specially cultivated in a government-controlled arboretum, but this is not a quick process. First, you have to grow the agarwood tree, which takes five years, explains Peter.  Then you bore a hole in the trunk, pack it with the infected fungus and leave it for another five years minimum.  The older the infected tree, the more expensive the oil. Nor can this process be circumvented by synthesizing the smell of oudh.  It’s impossible to do, says Peter, as the structures are too complex.

No wonder vast limousines with bodyguards hang around the shops in Nana, a small suburb of Bangkok and an epicentre of agarwood dealing.  Inside, the dealers are bartering with dealers from the Gulf over shipments worth thousands of dollars.  The demand is intense.

However, the final word on oudh should probably go to Luca Turin, whose own oudh odyssey alerted many others to its existence.  Oudh is a one-stop shop, he says. It is a very complex, multi-faceted smell. But to really have an impact, you would need to use it in quantities that would be far too expensive to produce. Now, as journalist Karen Wheeler points out, if that isn’t throwing down the gauntlet to someone, I don’t know what is.

Nevertheless, it should be remembered by all that the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) considers Aquillaria beccariana van Tieghem., A. cumingiana (Decne) Ridley, A. hirta Ridley, A. malaccensis Lam. (which some consider synonymous with A. agallocha Roxb.), A. microcarpa Baill. and A. sinensis (Lour.) Gilg. to be vulnerable, and A. crassna Pierre ex. H. Lecomte critically endangered.

Next time you purchase a bottle of Ormonde or M7 by YSL (commissioned by a guy called Ford, named after a motorway and a Bavarian sports saloon, M7 leaves most fragrances very far behind....apparently!) for the man in your life, give it a thought.
 
Lethal Lettuce?
Every week, I purchase a bag of choice, aromatic lettuce leaves for my parakeets (fussy little fellows!).  However, by midweek the crisp leaves always seem to have gone limp and by week’s end have degraded into a morass of green slime.  Ugh!  I’ve tried keeping them in the bag, out of the bag, in the fridge, out of the fridge, but nothing seems to work. As a result I am always a little wary about eating salads, particularly if they look as though they have been lying in the chiller cabinet for more than a single day, and I resist absolutely any offered in foreign climes.  Some may think me barmy, because salad is often perceived as the healthy option, but I suffer rarely from a gyppy tummy. However I felt somewhat vindicted when I read recently an article about a new technique that can take a “snapshot” of the activity of microbial genes at any given moment. 

UK researchers on the trail of the food-poisoning bacterium salmonella believe they can use the method to tackle the bug.  This is especially relevant because more than 350 cases of salmonella have been reported in the UK in the past few months following a new outbreak.

Salmonella spp. are Gram-negative bacteria belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family. They can be divided into those causing enteric fever, namely S. typhi and S. paratyphi, where infection is systemic although affecting the gastrointestinal tract [Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fever] and non-typhoid Salmonella, including S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium which cause acute gastroenteritis usually through food poisoning.

There are numerous Salmonella serotypes identified with food poisoning and they have often been named according to the place where they were isolated.  The increase in salmonellosis in Great Britain has been almost entirely due to S. enteritidis and this reflects an increase internationally.  Non-typhoid Salmonella spp. can cause invasive salmonellosis which may manifest as septicaemia or localised infections such as meningitis or osteomyelitis.

However what interested me most was the fact that the common factor in the recent incidents appears to be eating lettuce, and scientists at the Norwich-based Institute of Food Research are investigating which genes in the organism might be responsible for its special ability to adhere to vegetables.

Salmonella is good at sticking to plant surfaces, and the bacteria survive very well because we eat salads raw, says Jay Hinton, who is leading the research. Well I never! 
A misnomer.
What is the common or English name for Canada Balsam and where can I purchase some? enquired Dorothy Deer. I know it has something to do with tree resin, but no one seems to know what I’m talking about!

Abies balsamea (L.) Mill., syn. Abies balsamifera Mich., or Pinus balsamea L. of the family Pinaceae, the so-called ‘American Silver Tree’, ‘Balsam Fir’, ‘Balsam Tree’, or ‘Balm of Gilead Tree’, is a graceful tree, up to 40 feet high, with a tapering trunk and numerous branches which give it the form of an almost perfect cone. It occurs particularly in the Province of Quebec, Nova Scotia, Maine, and in the mountainous regions further west and south.

Abies balsamea separates a liquid oleoresin in special vesicles located beneath the bark; usually the oleoresin penetrates the bark and forms blisters on the surface of the trunk and branches.  By breaking these blisters or the vesicles beneath the bark, the oleoresin can be collected.  This is usually done from the middle of July to the middle of August, small metal cans with a pointed, sharp lip being used for the purpose. After the balsam is collected for one season, the tree has to be left to recuperate for one or two years.

The commercial term ‘Canada Balsam’ by which the oleoresin is known in the trade is a misnomer.  The product actually represents a true turpentine, because it consists chiefly of resin and volatile oil, and does not contain any benzoic or cinnamic acid.  Canada turpentine or ‘Canada Balsam’ is used largely as a permanent mounting medium in microscopy and as a cement for glassware.  Natives in the producing regions use it as a popular vulnerary, and as an internal remedy for coughs.

‘Canada Balsam’ is a pale yellow or yellowish-green, transparent and viscous mass with a pleasant therebinthinate odour.  When exposed to air, it dries very slowly to a transparent varnish.

I have been given it as an ingredient in an aromatherapy recipe, mentioned Dorothy.  Ah! On steam distillation, ‘Canada Balsam’ yields from 15% to 25% of a volatile oil. Could this be what Dorothy is looking for?  We don’t stock it, but I have been offered recently both the leaf (needle) essential oil and its hydrolat which may do the trick.

A little background.
We visited briefly with you in May and came back with two lovely lavender oils - one was the Kashmir and the other was Tasmanian. I wonder if you have written anything recently about the Kashmir lavender, and is the Tasmanian lavender from Bridestowe?  I’m writing a piece for an event we are holding here: any information you can share would be much appreciated, e-mailed Irene Seales from Los Gatos in California.

I regret that I have written nothing further about Kashmir lavender since February 2002 - I am due there in March, the “troubles” permitting.  In fact, for the time being, we are having to have the oil hand-carried to us by visitors from the region: hence recent delays.  Things are a little tricky in Jammu and Kashmir: a great pity, because it used to be a magic spot. I was last there more than thirty years ago. Still, here’s a bit more info.

I’m off to visit Dr. Shawl, Head of the Regional Resesearch Laboratory (RRL) in Srinigar, to whom I spoke a few months ago whilst he was in UK: it appears that we may have put this excellent lavender a little on the map. Although we make little of it, Kashmir Lavender is a genuine, high-quality, organic product.

RRL has developed a cultivar of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.), through selection, which is highly suitable for the temperate conditions of Kashmir.  It is planted in forest areas which have become barren or degraded.  Farmyard manure is applied during early Spring.  It requires a minimum of one or two irrigations during the rain-free period.  It blossoms in the last week of June and continues to the end of July.  It is harvested with a sickle on bright, sunny days when 50-60% of the florets are open.  The flowers are distilled immediately in a boiler-operated still.  The distillation is completed within 1½ hours, and oil yield is 1-1.2%.

That’s about it for now, but I should be able to tell you far more after my visit.
  
Meanwhile, I was e-mailed only today by E.D.K. “Tim” Denny, whom some may recollect ran the Nabowla site in Tasmania until he retired in 1990. At that time, the Denny family sold Bridestowe (called after his mother’s home in Devon) to Natural Extracts International Pty. Ltd. and in 1997 Bronson & Jacobs Pty. Ltd. acquired Bridestowe Estate Lavender Farm. We buy from them.

Charles Keith Denny, Tim’s father, trained initially as a chartered accountant in England but turned to manufacturing and then became a skilled perfumer. He obtained seeds of Lavandula angustifolia from high up on the southern French Alps and sailed with his family to Australia in 1921.  He intended to create a new source of lavender oil and chose Tasmania in the southern hemisphere as it was roughly on the same latitude as the south of France is in the northern hemisphere. By 1981 the Bridestowe Estate produced some 15% of the world’s supply of lavender oil. In fact, when I started Essentially Oils in 1985, I knew of no other source!

By the way, Tim, who must be in his 80s now, is the senior partner of Denny McKenzie Associates, distillation engineers and international consultants to the essential oil industry.  His experience in essential oils dates from 1939 when he studied the lavender industry in Grasse.  His tertiary studies at Cambridge were terminated prematurely by World War II, from which he emerged a highly decorated hero. From 1947 to 1973 he was in charge of research and development for Bridestowe, and was General Manager from 1973 to 1989.

In 1978 he was the first to show that the orthodox theory of essential oil distillation defied the second law of thermodynamics and to discover that transference of latent heat is the principle which governs the recovery of oils by steam distillation.  The theory is enunciated in his most comprehensive text Field Distillation of Herbaceous Oils, which is used in 42 different countries and is generally accepted as the standard work on the subject.

Plum-flowered Tea!
Although it has long been one of my favourite carrier oils, I realise that I have written little about Camellia oil since we introduced it first years ago.

Camellia is a tea tree (not to be confused, however, with Melaleuca alternifolia Cheel). It grows in mountainous areas of South-East Asia. The true wild Camellia sasanqua Thunb. is a small tree (but can grow to 8 metres high) occurring in the evergreen coastal areas of southern Shikoku, Kyushu and many other minor islands as far south as Okinawa in Japan. Usually found growing up to an altitude of 900 metres, Camellia sasanqua is not considered by the Japanese to be a true Camellia as they call it ‘Sazankwa’ meaning the ‘plum-flowered tea’.

Its evergreen leaves, silky and soft when very young, become tough and glabrous with age. 1.5 to 2 centimetres in diameter, the white flowers have 7 to 8 petals and many stamens. The fruit is a capsule which contains big oleaginous seeds.  In Japan, Camellia sasanqua has a long history of cultivation for practical rather than decorative reasons.

The leaves have been used for centuries to make a form of tea and the seeds or nuts have been a thriving Japanese industry long before there were any written records. Prior to the use of oil from whales and fossil fuels, the oil from Camellia seeds were used for lighting, lubrication, and above all, for cooking and cosmetic purposes.

In the 14th century, the moralist Kenko wrote “the beauty of her hair is what a man is most attracted by in a woman”. In the Ukiyoe (etchings) of the 17th and 18th centuries, many Japanese women are depicted in their baths, washing and doing their long hair.  During the very refined Kyoto era, women did their hair so as to highlight it was long and abundant.  They took care of it with camellia oil and had “beautiful black hair, abundant, gleaming and lacquered” as reported by an admirer.

This tradition still exists: the women reputed to have the most beautiful hair live in Oshima, an island where camellias have always been very abundant.  Camellia oil can be applied also on the face, on the neck and on the hands, thus causing western women to be jealous of the “peach skin, the long and curved nails” of Japanese women.

Camellia oil is used also in medicine as an excipient. In China, it is considered to be helpful for lowering the blood fat, preventing coronary disease and high blood pressure, and assisting the body’s antioxidation capacity.

Sometimes called “Eastern Olive Oil”, it is good for dressing salads and for frying and, with other oils, it makes the famous Japanese fried dish tempura.

Cold-pressed from the seed, the golden to pale-yellow oil is difficult and time-consuming to extract which contributes to its cost.  Typically containing oleic (74%), linoleic (10%), palmitic (12%), stearic (3%) and linolenic (1%) acids, camellia oil has excellent skin and hair conditioning properties.  It presents moreover skin restructuring and moisturizing virtues and is good also for its nail strengthening ability.      
 
What price botanical diversity?
It was quite a surprise to discover that an early sign of a child suffering from cystic fibrosis, even before more obvious symptoms rear their ugly head, is a salty taste on the skin.  Quite appropriate, therefore, that a component of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) might hold an answer to the detection and treatment of this genetic disease [Chemistry World, November 2004, p.72].

Although turmeric is probably better known as a cheap substitute for saffron, many claims have been made that turmeric has some characteristics of a ‘functional food’.  In India the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease is less than one tenth of that of the UK. There are lots of possible explanations for this, but those studying the body’s metabolism reckon that it might have something to do with antioxidants: these molecules mop up rogue elements like oxygen that could damage our cells and tissues by oxidizing proteins and DNA.

Turmeric contains at least one such molecule, curcumin, which has long been considered a bit of a “silver bullet”, since it is claimed to be anticarcinogenic, antiarthritic, antihepatoxic, antihypercholesterolaemic, antihypertensive and even antiphlogistic.  It alleviates kidney injury and inflammation. It is antiviral, antimicrobial and antparasitic! However the latest claim about curcumin [Egan et al. in Science, 23 April, 2004, p.600] is perhaps even more incredible.  The researchers think that turmeric may help an inherited genetic disease.

The gene for cystic fibrosis is carried by roughly one in 20 of the Caucasian population.  Fortunately it affects only those who get a faulty gene from both parents, and so the incidence is ‘only’ one in 2000 births. 

Respiratory problems are caused by built-up mucus in the lungs, and much treatment is based around physiotherapy and infection prevention. Another approach is antenatal diagnosis: the advent of DNA-based technology has caused huge improvements in this diagnosis, and it can now even be performed pre-implantation.  Gene therapy, for some time hailed as a potential cure, still remains obstinately in the future.  However, the idea that a dietary component could have a palliative effect has been all but unthinkable.

Most commonly the deficient gene has lost three base pairs, giving rise to a protein with a phenylalanine at position 508 missing, although other mutations are also known. The function of the protein is to facilitate chloride ion transport across membranes.  An early indication to parents that their baby is unusual is that it tastes of salt when kissed.  The salt has to go somewhere, and is in fact secreted in sweat.

The mutated protein is less effective in allowing this to happen, although it works adequately once it reaches the cell membrane.  In practice it is degraded by enzymes in the endoplasmic reticulum that can tell it hasn’t folded properly. Curcumin, however, seems to be able to chaperone the defective protein, so that it gets to the membrane, and, once there, it can move chloride ions again.

So far the experiments have only been done on mice and, until they are repeated on human volunteers, it isn’t possible to claim that this is a major breakthrough, but it does give credibility to those who think that the economic value of botanical diversity has yet to be fully calculated. 
  
Is it all in the mind?
Is it possible to be psychosomatically allergic or sensitized to an essential oil? asked Wendy Lennard.

Briefly, Wendy’s rash started whilst on holiday in Crete.  Calendula cream quickly eased the problem. However, back home, it flared again. Medical advice suggested that it was probably an allergy. Wendy thought a gold-plated chain, purchased in Crete, might be the culprit, and cast it quickly aside.  Later, after a night out, the rash returned.  This time, Wendy thought the cause some Climarome spray which she had used on her neck that evening.  But, hold on, it could have been the lavender she had used the following morning to relieve her itch? Since then, Wendy has avoided Climarome, lavender and gold chains and, apart from the odd slight itch now and again and a little loss of skin integrity, all has been fine until now.

I decided to try some essential oils in the bath.  The blend was Frankincense, Sandalwood, Bergamot FCF and Chamomile Maroc.  That may sound awful but it was very therapeutic and caused no problems.  I have always used blends like this before. However tonight  I added some Ylang Ylang Extra. Ouch!  My neck started prickling: it is like someone has put itching powder on it.

Charles, my question to you is, do you think it is possible that I could have psychologically brought on the reaction knowing that I had added Ylang Ylang Extra, or was it just a very bad chemical hotch-potch that caused the quick bath exit?

First, it is quite possible that Wendy may have developed a hypersensitivity to several oils: this is not as uncommon as you might think, and there are several reports amongst therapists. In fact, I had a recent case of an aromatherapist who was allergic to almost 60 oils. Sensitivity in individuals, however, is difficult to predict. The aforementioned aromatherapist is also a scientist and it was perhaps fortuitious that, when researching adverse reactions to essential oils, she submitted herself to dermatological tests and discovered that she was hypersensitive to so many. Quite a shock!

On the other hand, it could be a reaction triggered originally by the “gold” chain.  My sister, who adores costume jewellery, suffered similarly for years: silver also upset her quite badly. Still, she preferred to tolerate the itch rather than give up the jewellery.  Surprisingly, the sensitivity eventually disappeared.  However, thinking back, she was always anticipating an adverse reaction, and the hypersensitivity only began to wane when the anticipation slipped her mind.  Strange, but true!  Therefore, I would not dismiss lightly Wendy’s hypothesis.

Nevertheless, it has been reported that the tiny traces of eugenol, isoeugenol and dehydrodi- isoeugenol which occur in Ylang Ylang may be the components responsible for occasional reports of hypersensitivity.  Furthermore benzyl acetate and benzyl benzoate, components of Ylang Ylang, have been found to be freely absorbed by monkey skin: urine samples showed up to 57% of an applied dose being absorbed.  The easy absorption of certain chemicals in aromatic extracts appears to be a common factor in those extracts known to cause allergic sensitization.

Advice requested.
I have a client who suffers from Lupus.  She has recently had a very bad, burn-like rash on her face. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has treated lupus with aromatherapy oils, requests Val Bradford.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an auto-immune disease of unknown aetiology characterized by autoantibodies which participate in the mediation of tissue damage affecting joints, skin, kidney, CNS, and other organs. It is far more common in women than in men, the evidence suggesting that male hormones have a protective effect, the peak onset is usually in women in their 20s and 30s.

The commonest symptoms in patients with SLE is arthralgia or arthritis; fatigue, fever, weight loss, rashes (characteristically a so-called ‘butterfly rash’ on the cheeks and bridge of the nose).

The management of patients with SLE must be adjusted individually depending on the manifestation of disease and their severity. Since the disease is characterized by exacerbation and remission, careful monitoring of the patient and appropriate treatment of symptoms as and when they occur are required. Treatment is largely empirical and symptomatic, and there have been few controlled studies.

In addition to any specific treatment, patients require emotional support, extensive rest, and avoidance where possible of stimuli that may provoke disease exacerbation, including ultra- violet light, certain drugs or foods rich in psoralens, infections, and psychological stress.

As far as the use of essential oils is concerned, I have no experience.  However, there are a couple of vegetable oils that may assist - both have been used traditionally for the purpose - Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica) and Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides).

Finally......
That’s another 40/50,000 words banked during the last twelve months, many of which would never have been written without your significant input.  Very many thanks.

On behalf of Jan, Justin, Jade, Karla, Genine, Dave, Carole, Robin, Magda, Margaret, David and, of course, “the old man”......

Have a wonderful Christmas!    

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