As far back as 3000 B.C., the Egyptians used aromatic plants for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. In the ancient countries of the Orient, in Greece, and in Rome the essence of flowers and roots was extracted by placing them in fatty oils. The glass bottles containing these mixtures were warmed in the, and finally the odoriferous oils were separated from the solid materials. Sometimes the flowers or plants were macerated with wine, and the product obtained by digestion was then filtered and boiled to a syrup.
The earliest authentic description of an essential oil, produced by a method resembling conventional hydrodistillation, was compiled by Arnald de Villanova sometime during the late 12th or early 13th century (1235–1311 AD).
After the fall of the Roman Empire and with the appearance of both Christian and Muslim human advancements, the craftsmanship and exploration of scent were conveyed to the Arab world, where it became further sophisticated.
Distillation technology was improved in the ninth century by earlier Arabic scientists. Arabian chemist (and physician) Ibn Sina - also known as Avicenna, who lived 980 – 1037 AD, since he was the first one to perfect steam distillation – and his process stayed unchanged for a couple of hundred years.
In the Middle Ages, this information of aromas was taken back to Europe by the Crusaders coming back from the Holy Land and was created further by chemists and in the monasteries.
Essential oil extraction
