Organic Aromatherapy Harvesting and Uses

by Selena Belisle, CE Institute LLC Founder/Instructor 

Massage therapists, bodyworkers, occupational therapists, nurses and even my veterinarian are using essential oils for therapeutic benefits.  Aromatherapy is our first medicine, which is a skilled and balanced practice that’s somewhere between an art and a science. Aromatherapy uses plant extracts which usually create various essential oils for different restorative values or purposes. Adding aromatherapy to your medical practice can provide some of the following therapeutic effects:

• Stimulant
• Relaxant
• Decongestant
• Antimicrobial
• Diuretic
• Analgesic
• Astringent and more

So why isn’t aromatherapy practice more popular? Or why isn’t aromatherapy treatment available in all medical practices?  Wouldn’t everyone want to consume natural plant extracts instead of modern-day pharmaceuticals?

The answer to all of these questions is largely factored by unreliable essential oil harvesting and production.  Plants can be exposed to drought, disease, spoilage and other uncontrollable elements of nature. So, while most medical pharmaceuticals have been developed in a controlled lab environment with reliable precision, using plant extracts that are born from nature is another matter.

Aromatherapy essentially works through a harvested plant’s chemical constituents.  Different plants are made up of different natural elements which aid in their own protection, survival and reproduction in the wild. Chemical constituents are known as the different elements from the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements that makes up a plant’s properties to survive and reproduce.

Today we have well documented formulas of elements for almost every known plant species that still exists. Plants that are harvested for aromatherapy use can be effectively identified through their elemental composition, and combining different plant elements can share a variety of different therapeutics uses. Those benefits are multiplied when different combinations of these specific elements are blended together in different quantities. The most common example of using elements to make a variety of substances on the Periodic Table would be the creation of water. O represents the element for oxygen and H represents the element for hydrogen on the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements.  Combining 2 elements of hydrogen with 1 element of oxygen is known as H2O or water.  Hydrogen or oxygen by themselves are not water, but when combined with a specific formula you have water.  The  same types of formulas can be developed with plants in aromatherapy practice. 

Today, we might have over 400 different species of the geranium plant alone.  While we can visibly tell the difference between some of the geranium plant’s different species, it’s their nonvisible chemical constituents that sets them apart. And remember it’s those different combinations of chemical constituents that create the various therapeutic uses of every plant.

Have you ever wondered why some flowers can smell so pretty?  That aroma may repel some, but it’s designed by nature to help attract fauna or bees to visit and spread their pollen to aid in the plant’s reproduction.  It's a plant’s unique combination of chemical constituents that creates a plant’s signature aroma that can be used for human therapeutics, beyond its initial natural design.

The same applies to a plant’s survival or protection.  There are various insects, fungus and other potential natural harms that could infect or kill a plant.  And just like some plants have different aromas to aid in their reproduction, they can have other aromas to deter harmful insects or other naturally occurring threats.  Those aromas would be a different combination of chemical constituents to aid in a plant’s protection or survival. An aromatherapy example of using a natural plant’s protective chemical constituent combination would be citronella essential oil, which is used to produce candles and bug spray as an insect deterrent.

Over time, whether through accidental surprise or academic study, we have learned which natural chemical constituent combinations can provide different therapeutic benefits.  Many of these human aromatherapy uses were founded thousands of years ago, such as using mint leaves as a digestive aid. Humans were even tattooed with plants materials instead of inks for health benefits.  So why hasn’t our oldest medical practice continued with better prevalence?

Why don’t we have essential oils with anti-inflammatory chemical constituent properties in the same drug store aisle next to the other NSAID’s such as ibuprofen or Advil? While some aromatherapy practices still continue to this day, many do not. 

One of the main reasons natural aromatherapy is not more prevalent is due to harvesting and production practices which include manmade chemical pesticide use.  In today’s world, manufacturing processes seek the fastest and cheapest methods to produce salable products, regardless of what’s being produced. This includes GMOs used for food production and chemical pesticides used with essential oil production.

Some pesticides are considered carcinogens and are generally considered harmful to human health.  And unlike food production/distribution which is widely regulated by governments to protect public health, essential oils do not enjoy the same monitoring.  In addition to less monitoring or laws applying to essential oil production, there are some essential oil manufacturers that make claims that are simply not true. This leads to unreliability and breaks public trust with aromatherapy practice.

The truth is, some essential oil manufacturers would go out of business if they lost an entire year’s crops. And many crops are lost to natural pests or disease.  Please ask yourself, how would you fare if you lost an entire year’s income while still having to pay your bills to exist?  Are you willing to take the chance to learn or see this?  Because that’s the choice a crop manufacturer faces on a regular basis when applying pesticides. It is our belief that most essential oil manufacturers are not going to risk a year’s harvest when they can easily use pesticides to protect their crops and income.  It’s just good business to protect your product, and pesticides are some of the quickest and cheapest methods to produce a reliable crop from nature, that is until there are better health regulation laws with crops used to produce and manufacture essential oils.

So that leads us to this painting included at the top of this article.  Do you know what that relaxing scene depicts?  That is a painting from 1890 by the artist Anna Boch which depicts a young woman picking various plants and flowers.  Please take notice that there are a variety of plants shown in the painting, unlike what would be grown today. 

Today we have monoculture fields of lavender, rosemary and other plant materials that can be used for their chemical constituents or essential oils, where the crop can be easily harvested and produced as one.  But before today’s fairly reliably manmade pesticides, harvesters would sow various plant species amongst one another for increased plant protection.  Various plants have different aromas with their various unique combinations of chemical constituents, so while some plants might be more susceptible to some harmful insects or natural disease, other plants might have aromas or chemical constituents that could provide better protection from those specific pathogens.  This painting from 1890 perfectly depicts organic plant protection, where various plants have been grown together to protect the harvest of all of them. It's the various plant's chemical constituents that not only protect themselves, but also organically assist in protecting the other surrounding plants through their various compositions of chemical constituents.

Why don’t we continue to grow different plants amongst one another for better natural protection instead of using harmful chemical pesticides?  The reason is harvesting.  Organically picking various parts of individual plants grown amongst others is difficult; and in most cases, would require human labor which is expensive.  It’s cheaper to use a tractor or machine to mow down a field as one, rather than pay for a human to pick clary sage from a mixed field. The amount a tractor can harvest in a single monoculture field versus what a human can manually pick in a mixed field is incomparable.

So, if you’re interested in adding organic aromatherapy to your medical practice, please try to find quality manufacturers with responsible harvesting and production practices.  Obviously, the situation depicted in this painting would be best, where natural resources are skillfully used to protect various plants instead of manmade chemicals.

There are many other considerations with organic aromatherapy practice which we teach here at the school, however, this important point was made example of by Musee d' Orsay’s 100 Works That Tell the Climate Tour in Paris, where they used 100 paintings to provide examples of how climate change and other factors are affecting our existence.

We want to thank the Musee d' Orsay for pointing out this important point of plant harvesting that can be used to improve aromtherapy's essential oil production and quality.  This is an incredible story that will hopefully be memorable through the example and use of fine art.