Talk:Essential oils

This article is in need of thorough improvement. It is a WP import.

This article was imported from WP in December 2007 and some very minor re-working was performed up until August 2008. Since then it has remained virtually untouched. Very, very large parts of the original WP article have simply been commented out on the article's edit page.

Someone who is familiar with essential oils should either review and re-work those commented out parts ... or they should be deleted. If that is not done in the next few weeks, I propose to completely delete those commented out parts. I don't have enough knowledge of essential oils to feel comfortable about re-working those commented out parts myself.

This article is a prime example of a WP import that was never re-done as it should be. Milton Beychok 02:58, 21 September 2010 (UTC)

Some material already at CZ

Aromatherapy exists. I am a bit frustrated that I don't remember the article in which I cited clinical trials that showed no benefit for surgical recovery with aromatherapy alone, but, when combined with massage therapy, did have some benefit. It's here somewhere, but I must get back to the feline hospice.

Do see reference 3 under aromatherapy.

I wonder about catnip oil in veterinary medicine. As I remember, the active ingredent in the herb is nepenthalactone; I don't know if it will distill. Howard C. Berkowitz 02:06, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

Article scope

Found some of the citations elsewhere. Sooner or later, we need to define what is appropriate for this article, for aromatherapy, or both. For example, the therapeutic use of clove oil in dentistry, or peppermint oil as a carminative, is therapy but not aromatherapy.

Chemistry and production clearly belong here.

Industrial uses such as perfumery aren't aromatherapy; I haven't yet checked for existing coverage there. --Howard C. Berkowitz 21:12, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

Essential?

At a quick glance through the article I can't see any explanation of why they're essential. Peter Jackson (talk) 05:11, 28 January 2023 (CST)

Yes, we need a chemist. I've never been able to sort out exactly what the work "essential" means. It seems to infer highly concentrated, scented, but more than that I am just not sure. I'll look around some more to see if I can get that clarified.Pat Palmer (talk) 07:44, 28 January 2023 (CST)

I think I found the answer, or at least, an answer: "The 'essential' in their name refers to the fact that the oil contains the essence of a plant, its fragrance.