An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (defined as "the tendency of a substance to vaporize") aroma compounds from plants.
Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetherolea, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove.
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
Essential oils are obtained from blossoms, seeds, fruits, fruit peels, leaves, stems, barks, wood, roots, and plant secretions.
Essential oils are found in hundreds of products but are generally used as odorants, flavorants, and pharmaceutical ingredients.
As odorants, they are used in perfumes, lotions and other cosmetics, soaps, detergents, and other products ranging from animal feed to insecticides. As flavorants, they are present in a wide variety of foods, including soft drinks, baked products, ice creams, candy, confections, etc.
As pharmaceutical ingredients, essential oils are used in dental products such as toothpaste, aromatherapy and phytotherapy products, and a large number of medicines.
Essential oil are widely used in the cosmetics, pharmaceuticals confectionery, and beverage industries. Currently industrial demand for essential oil is met through import.
Eucalyptus essential oil is obtained from fresh leaves of the tall, evergreen eucalyptus tree. The tree, scientifically classified as Eucalyptus globulus is also known as fever tree, blue gum tree or stringy bark tree, depending on where it is located in the world.
Eucalyptus is native to Australia and has spread in the past few centuries to other parts of the world including India, Europe, and South Africa. Though many countries produce eucalyptus oil in small quantities, the prime source of eucalyptus oil for the world is still Australia.
Due to the medicinal uses of eucalyptus oil and the compound eucalyptol which is present in its makeup, it is used in a variety of over-the-counter drugs including rubs, inhalers, liniments, rash creams, and mouthwashes.
The demand for the various types of essential oils is increasing with the expansion and establishment of the food, soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industry and various chemical industries.
The demand for essential oil is rapidly increasing in Nigeria. Essential oils are widely used in the cosmetics, pharmaceuticals confectionery, and beverage industries in Nigeria. Currently industrial demand for essential oil is met through import.
Though no figure is available for the import of essential oil in Nigeria, the market for essential oilis national. With a population of over two hundred million (200,000,000) people and an estimated national population growth rate of five point seven percent (5.7%) per annum, Nigeria has a large market for essential oil.
