essential oil

essential oil

Any of a class of highly volatile (readily evaporating) organic compounds found in plants and usually named for them (e.g., rose oil, peppermint oil). They have been known and traded since ancient times. Many essential oils contain isoprenoids. Some, such as oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate) and orange oil (d-limonene), have one predominant component, but most have dozens or hundreds. Trace components impart an oil's characteristic odour, which synthetic or blended oils can rarely duplicate. Essential oils have three primary commercial uses: as odorants in perfumes, soaps, detergents, and other products; as flavours in baked goods, candies, soft drinks, and many other foods; and as pharmaceuticals, in dental products and many medicines (see aromatherapy).

---

essential oil

any of various volatile organic oils present in plants, usually containing terpenes and esters and having the odour or flavour of the plant from which they are extracted: used in flavouring and perfumery

---

essential oil [i′sen·chəl ′ȯil]

(materials)

Any of the odoriferous oily products of plant origin which are distillable; the principal constituents are terpenes, but benzenoid and aliphatic compounds may also be present. Also known as ethereal oil.