Vita Danzare

Digital magazine available online http://vitadanzare.com

Herbalgram

Magazine from the American Botanical Council http://cms.herbalgram.org/h­erbalgram/index.html

Information sources

American Botanical Council

Excellent organization for news and research http://abc.herbalgra­m.org/site/PageServer

Herb Research Foundation

Science and research on herbal medicine www.herbs.org/herbnews

Dr. Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases www.ars-grin.gov/duke

Aromatherapy

Canadian Federation of Aromatherapists www.cfacanada.com

National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy www.naha.org

International Aromatherapy and Aromatic Medicine Association www.iaama.org.au

International Aromatherapy and Herb Association http://aztec.asu.edu/makingscents

Alliance of International Aromatherapists www.alliance-aromather­apists.org/index.htm

Association of Holistic Practitioners http://holisticassociation.org

International Herbs Association http://iherb.org

International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists www.aromatherapy-stu­dies.com/index.html

American Herb Association www.ahaherb.com

International Federation of Aromatherapists Chapters in Europe, Japan, and China http://ifaroma.org

HYDROSOL ANALYSIS

Laseve

One of the top labs worldwide, specialists in rare botanical extracts http://corpolaseve.uqac.ca

Spectrix Labs

Essential oil, hydrosol, and flavour/fragrance analysis www.spectrixlab.com/sample.html

Appendix 2

Conversion Chart

1000 milliliters = 1 liter

1 liter (946.4 milliliters) = 32 ounces = 1 quart (1.06 quarts liquid)

30 milliliters (29.6 milliliters) = 2 tablespoons

5 milliliters (4.9 milliliters) = 1 teaspoon (3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon)

250 milliliters (236.6 milliliters) = 1 cup

500 milliliters (473.2 milliliters) = 1 pint

30 grams (28.35 grams) = 1 ounce

1000 grams = 1 kilogram (1 liter of water weighs 1 kilogram)

1 kilogram = 2.25 pounds

(As a rough guide you can make grams = milliliters)

To convert degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit, multiply the Celsius temperature by 1.8 and add 32.

0 degrees C = 32 degrees F (freezing)

100 degrees C = 212 degrees F (boiling)

Glossary

Absolute: highly fragrant plant extract obtained through the use of chemical solvents or enfleurage (fat extraction) as opposed to steam distillation. Primarily used for expensive floral material, such as rose or orange blossom, and for those plants or flowers that cannot be steam distilled, such as jasmine, hyacinth, and carnation.

Acneic: relating to acne

Adaptogenic: in aromatherapy this refers to an oils, ability to adapt to the needs of the body and/or change its effects according to dosage

Aerophagia: swallowing of air

Antioxidant: substance that inhibits oxidation and captures free radicals

Astringent: able to draw together soft organic tissues

Alkaloid: colorless, complex, usually bitter substances found in plant material, containing nitrogen and usually oxygen. Most commonly found in alcohol extracts of the plant.

Asthenia: lack or loss of strength, general debility, when you just don’t seem to care much about anything

Attar: hydro-distillation of plant material into a base of sandalwood oil, usually found in India and performed with expensive flowers and substances difficult to steam distill

ADD: Attention Deficit Disorder

ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Aromapuncture: term coined by Suzanne Catty and Miriam Erlichman to describe the application of hydrosols to acupuncture points in the body without the use of pressure or needles

Aromatic Tincture: term coined to describe the preparation of tinctures using alcohol combined with hydrosols

Ayurveda: from the Sanskrit Ayur (life) Veda (knowledge or science). A system of health maintenance and care practiced in India based on Vedic text that are more than 4000 years old. Ayurveda is based on three main constitutional types and provides a philosophy of diet, health care, lifestyle, exercise, and spirituality designed to keep the individual in a state of balance and good health.

Beta-asarone: a chemical from the functional group ketones, which has liver toxic (hepatotoxic) effects

Carrier oil: also called a base oil or simply a carrier. Usually a nonvolatile fatty oil from natural sources that is used to dilute essential oils before application or ingestion, for example, sesame, olive, sweet almond, or coconut

Carminative: substance that promotes the release of gas from the stomach or intestinal tract

Cholagogue: a substance that promotes the release of bile from the gallbladder

Cicatrisant: stimulating the healing of wounds or scar tissue

Cohobation: a term used in distillation to describe the recycling of the distillate waters (hydrosols) back into the still to maximize the extraction of the dissolved essential oil molecules

Couperose skin: redness of the face (primarily the cheeks and nose) caused by numerous spider veins appearing on the surface or visible through the top layers of the skin

Chemotype: term used in aromatherapy to describe chemical anomalies within plants of the same genus and species that are created as a result of environment, geography, and numerous naturally occurring variables.

Dermocaustic : substance causing irritation to the skin

Decoction: in herbal medicine, a product made by the boiling of herbs in water

Distance healing: term used in energetic healing, most commonly reiki, to describe healing work conducted on an individual from a distance

Diuretic: substance that increase the flow of urine and removes water or fluids from the body

Emetic: substance that promotes vomiting

Expectorant: substance that promotes the expulsion of mucus from the respiratory tract

Free radical: a particularly reactive atom that has one or more unpaired electrons. Often used to describe oxygen molecules with unpaired electrons that contribute to the aging process.

Fractionated: a process, often chemical, that separates a substance into different fractions; to facilitate their use as isolates or to change the structure of the original substance, e.g.: citrus oils are often fractionated to remove their monoterpene content, making them less volatile and therefore less likely to evaporate in bottles during storage or for sales. Fractionated citrus oils are more likely to cause issues of dermocausticity.

Frictions: a term in aromatherapy used to describe the application of essential oils, usually undiluted, by rubbing on specific parts of the body without massage. Term used by Nelly Grosjean to describe her blends, which are formulated specifically to be used in this manner.

Functional group: term used to describe groups of chemicals according to their structure; a characteristic reactive unit of a chemical compound especially in organic chemistry

Hepato: a prefix that refers to the liver, that is, a hepatostimulant is a liver function stimulant; a hepatotoxin is a substance toxic to the liver.

Hemostatic: to stop bleeding

Herbaceous: of herbs or green plants, resembling fresh herbs or plant material in smell or taste

Homeopathy: philosophy of medicine devised by Samuel Hahnemann and based on the principle that “like cures like.” One uses a remedy that would normally cause specific symptoms to cure those same symptoms. Homeopathy uses only infinitesimal doses of substances to achieve healing, the more dilute or lower the dose the stronger the potency.

Hydrophilic: water loving, attracted by or to water

Infusion: in herbal medicine, the preparation of a substance made by steeping plant material in water, alcohol, or rarely oil, without the addition of heat, to extract active principles

In vitro: literally “in glass,” describing laboratory tests conducted on isolated tissue, outside the living body; in an artificial environment

In vivo: literally “in the living,” describing effects or tests on living bodies, animal or human

Ketone: a chemical functional group with a carbonyl group attached to two carbon atoms. In aromatherapy, ketones are considered unsafe by some. However, there are hundreds of different ketones some of which do have serious issues of toxicity, others of which have no issues of toxicity.

Lipophilic: fat or lipid loving, attracted by or to fatty substances

Living embalming: in aromatherapy also called “aromatic perfusion.” A protocol that advises the application of quantities of undiluted essential oils over large areas of the body, excluding mucous membranes, to combat specific infections or pathologies. Usually undertaken with essential oils that have no issues of dermocausticity or toxicity, that are well tolerated by the body, and that have specific antibacterial, antiviral, or antifungal properties.

Maceration: in herbal medicine, similar to infusion. Most often used to describe preparation of products in which plant material is soaked in an oil base without the use of a direct heat source. Some plant material, e.g.: carrot to create helio-carrot, is macerated in olive oil and placed in the sun to enhance the extraction of the plant properties through the warmth of the sun’s rays.

Materia medica: the science or study of the nature, properties, and preparation of healing substances. Also books or documents describing the nature and properties of healing substances or medicines.

Monoterpene: a chemical functional group with ten carbon atoms and one double bond. In aromatherapy, monoterpenes are found in many oils and in the highest quantities in oils from the conifer trees and citrus fruits.

Mucolytic: helping to liquefy, dissolve, or resolve mucus in the body

Muka: term used to describe the residual plant matter remaining after steam distillation of essential oils. Muka is usually left to compost for a period and then spread as a fertilizer or weed retardant in organic and biodynamic agriculture.

Oxide: a chemical functional group characterized by an oxygen atom integrated into a terpene ring system. In aromatherapy the oxide 1,8 cineole is the most common and shows up in high proportions in oils such as ti tree, and the eucalyptus family.

Peroxidation: an oxidation process in which oxygen molecules bind to other oxygen molecules

Phytohormones: plant hormone, or hormones derived from plant sources

Phytomedicine: plant medicine or medicine derived from plant sources

Phytotherapy: therapy using plant products, plant-based medicine

Proving: in homeopathic medicine, the term used to describe the exhibition of symptoms that the remedy is supposed to alleviate or clear up

Prophylactic: guarding from or preventing disease

rH2: a measurement of the electrical conductivity of a substance

Rosacea: an inflammatory condition of the skin where redness, roughness, bumps, and pustules appear across the center of the face, affecting primarily the nose and cheeks

Ruh: hydrodistillation of plant material, usually of exotic flowers such as jasmine, performed almost exclusively in India

SAD: Seasonal Affective Disorder. A series of symptoms including depression, asthenia, problems of the endocrine system, loss of energy and vitality, that combined represent SAD. Believed to be the result of insufficient amount of sunlight entering the eye and reaching the pineal gland.

Safrole: also safrol, a phenyl propane found in essential oil of sassafras and having hepatotoxic effects in rats. Studies on human beings indicate that the hepatotoxicity is not created by safrole in the liver of humans.

Sesquiterpene: a chemical functional group characterized by a terpene molecule with fifteen carbon atoms

Succussion: in homeopathic medicine, the repeated rapping of a bottle to potentize the remedy within. It is believed that the vibrations of the rapping process distributes the energetic vibration of the medicine throughout the substance and increases its potency.

Tincture: an active principle or extract of a plant, usually made with alcohol, for use as a medicine

Tisane: an herb tea or infusion, usually used medicinally or for health-giving properties

THMs: Trihalomethanes. Any of various derivatives CHX₃ of methane (e.g. chloroform) that have three halogen atoms per molecule and are formed especially during the chlorination of drinking water