Lavender EO

Latin name :

Lavandula officinalis

Botanical profile :

Lavender is a plant belonging to the Labieae family and the Lavandula genus.

Geographic origin :

The largest lavender productions are located in the South of France (1st world producer), Spain, Bulgaria or China.
Russia, Hungary and Tasmania are also producers, to a lesser extent.

Chemotypes :

There are several varieties of lavender: the population and the clonal. The difference comes mainly from genetics and historical crosses. The population lavender is the historical variety. It has never been crossed and is therefore recognizable by plants of various aspects and very heterogeneous fields as the reproduction is sexed and made from seeds. The clonal lavender comes from population lavender cuttings. Very homogeneous fields and similar plants are obtained with this method. It is mainly produced in Bulgaria, but it is possible to find some in France. Olfactively, the difference is notable. Clonal lavender is poorer, less varied. Among the clonals, there are three major species: the maillete, the matherone and the diva, differentiated by their Ocimene level. Among the populations, we distinguish the rapido, the sara and the carla, which contain an intermediate rate of Ocimene.
Overall, lavender has 32 different species linked to the genus Lavandula, not counting hybrids.
In perfumery, there are especially hybrid species such as Lavandin with a terpenic and camphorated smell, and the Aspic, even more camphorated (see Lavandin and Aspic).

Extraction process :

Lavender is a 20 to 60 cm tall herbaceous sub-shrub with evergreen leaves and blue-purple flowers that bloom from July-August. The production of lavender requires a certain altitude, located between 600 and 1500 meters.
After declining between the 1960s and 2000s, production is now increasing thanks to the Bulgarian productions among others, twice as big as French productions.
Cultivation and extraction are done in August-September, using a traditional or a green ground process. The traditional process consists in leaving the plants to dry under the sun after cutting them. This technique allows to concentrate all the heavy olfactive compounds as the terpenes have time to evaporate. The resultant smell is hotter and more coumarin. The green ground process (ensilage) consists in extracting the plants directly after cutting them. Therefore, the smell is greener and cooler than if the plant was dried in the sun beforehand. In both cases, lavender essential oil is obtained by decantation at the distillation outlet.
The extraction yield of lavender is lower than the lavandin, because lavender contains fewer flower heads. Its extraction yield of 40 kg of essential oil per hectare does not equal the lavender, which has a yield of 120 kg of oil per hectare cultivated (Aspic has a yield of 50 kg / ha).
The essential oil can be ground to be obtained without terpene. It can also be acetylated to increase its level of Linalyl Acetate to be extracted later. The lavender absolute yield is between 1 and 2.2%, and it has a very green, herbaceous smell as well as a great tenacity.

Major Components :

Linalyl Acetate (42-52%)
Linalool (32-40%)
Ocimene (≈4%)
Terpinen-4-ol (≈4%)
Lavandulyl Acetate (≈3%)
Lavandulol (≈3%)
1,8-Cineole (≈2%)
Borneol (≈1%)
Plotter(s) : Lavandulol and Lavandulyl Acetate