Essential Oil Distillation Services

Essential oil extraction services create added value from overlooked raw materials.

Given the abundance of natural resources in Thailand, the health and beauty industry can transform various plants, herbs, and other natural ingredients into a wide range of products. However, the processing of these ingredients sometimes produces leftovers, such as fruit peels, seeds, pulp, etc. Often, these by-products, considered waste, need to be disposed of, which also incurs costs, especially for large industries with high production volumes, resulting in more waste. Therefore, entrepreneurs must find ways to add value to these leftovers from the processing, by using essential oil extraction services with TIBD. This not only produces high-quality essential oils that can generate additional revenue but also helps your business to be sustainable and profitably efficient.

TIBD’s essential oil extraction service unlocks the value of agricultural raw materials for businesses in the health and beauty industry supply chain.

1. Solvent Extraction

Solvent Extraction converts essential oil extraction using suitable solvents like alcohol, hexane, or ether to extract various compounds from plants. The choice of solvent varies as each type has different capabilities for extracting essential oils from plant samples.

This method is suitable for:

• Plants with a small amount of essential oil
• Plants with hard tissue

Advantages:

• The resulting essential oil has a fragrance closely resembling the actual raw materials.

Examples of plants suitable for solvent extraction include jasmine, lotus, or rose.

2. Mechanical expression (cold pressing)

Mechanical expression is the simplest method to extract essential oils. It involves pressing the raw material to release the oil contained in the fruit peel. However, the oil obtained is in small quantities and not very pure. This method is suitable for raw materials with a high percentage of oil. It is used for some essential oils that degrade with heat, hence cold pressing is preferred over distillation.

This method is suitable for:

• Plants with a high content and percentage of essential oil
• Plants with soft tissue

Advantages:

• Yields high-quality essential oil
• Retains the fragrance and properties of the essential oil well
• Safe, leaves no chemical residues
• Environmentally friendly

Examples of plants suitable for extraction by this method include the peels of citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes, and bergamots.

3. Enfleurage

Enfleurage is an old French technique for extracting essential oils from flowers using animal fat or vegetable oil. The method involves using odorless oil or fat to absorb the volatile oils that evaporate from the flower petals. The fat used in this method must be clean, odorless, and have the right consistency. If it is too dry, it will not absorb the essential oils well. If it is too soft, it will be difficult to remove the flowers from the fat.

This method is suitable for:

• Flowers with delicate petals
• Fragrant flowers

Advantages:

• Produces essential oils with a delicate aroma
• Preserves the aroma and properties of the essential oils well
• Does not use heat

Examples of plants suitable for solvent extraction:

• Flowers with delicate petals, such as roses, orange blossoms, jasmine, and tuberose

4. Steam distillation

This is the most commonly used method for extracting essential oils. It involves using heat from steam to separate the essential oil from the plant material, without the use of solvents. The steam is passed through the plant material, carrying the essential oil with it to a condenser. The oil then separates from the water in the condenser.

This method is suitable for:

• A variety of plants, both those with high and low essential oil content
• Heat-resistant plants, herbs, leaves, roots, bark, and resins
• Large-scale essential oil extraction

Advantages:

• Produces essential oils with a delicate aroma
• Preserves the aroma and properties of the essential oil well
• Convenient, cost-effective, and time-efficient
• Does not use heat

Examples of plants suitable for steam distillation:

• Eucalyptus oil
• Lime oil
• Cinnamon oil
• Lemongrass oil
• Lavender oil

5. Water distillation

This method is the extracting essential oils from herbs that do not decompose when heated. It involves directly boiling the plant material with water. As the water boils and evaporates, the steam carries the essential oil present in the plant tissue with it.

This method is suitable for:

• Heat-resistant plants
• Plants with hard tissues, as soft-tissued plants may be damaged by heat during distillation
• Plants with a high essential oil content

Advantages:

• Produces high-quality, 100% pure essential oils
• Preserves the aroma and properties of the essential oil well
• Safe, does not leave behind any chemical residues

Examples of plants suitable for water distillation:

• Rose
• Cinnamon
• Clove
• Galangal
• Lemongrass

Essential Oil Extraction Services: Who They Are Suitable For

The following groups can benefit from essential oil extraction services:

• Farmers who want to add value to their crops
• Agribusinesses that process agricultural products
• Developers of extracts for the cosmetics, food supplement, and herbal product industries
• Cosmetics factories, food supplement factories, herbal product factories

What to Prepare for Essential Oil Extraction Services

For those interested in essential oil extraction services, here are some things you need to prepare:

• Plants, flowers, herbs, and other natural raw materials that you want to extract essential oil from.
• The purpose of the extracted essence or oil (e.g., selling it as an extract or using it to develop other products).
• Prepare 1 kilogram of plant samples to be sent to TIBD for extraction.

Application of Essential Oils in the Health and Beauty Industry

Essential oils play a vital role in the health and beauty industry, being used in a wide variety of products and as follows:

TIBD: Experts in Innovative Essential Oil Extraction

With experience and expertise in using advanced extraction technology, TIBD is committed to developing innovation and providing high-quality essential oil extraction services that can meet your needs in terms of beauty, health, and others. We are ready to provide consulting and offer the most suitable extraction methods to effectively apply innovation to your business.

Contact us today to start adding value to your products with high-quality essential oils from TIBD. Click here.