Extracting woody essential oils through distillation

16 January 2022

Essential oil cascading through a sight glass at our distillation facility.

Many plants (including Buddha Wood and Sandalwood) possess the ability to produce oil as part of their metabolic process.

The complex combination of physical and chemical processes at work in plants such as photosynthesis, respiration, the synthesis and degradation of organic compounds, and through the action of natural enzymes - results in the production of a wide range of oils.

Oils play important roles in plant protection (serving as physical barriers against desiccation) while also serving as signal molecules, plant hormones and the storage of energy.

Plant oils come in a wide variety of forms, including volatile oils and essential oils.

An oil is "essential" in the sense that it contains the "essence of" the plant's fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived
The sight glass enables us to monitor the progress of the distillation process. To our experienced eye, we can tell if the process is working properly.

It’s this experience and careful monitoring of the distillation processes that ensures consistent extraction of a high-quality product that sometimes leads people to observe that the process is a mixture of art as well as science.

At Wild Wood Oils of Australia, we strive to advance our processes to create high quality essential woody oils. Read more about Buddha Wood Oil and Sandalwood Oil.