Hi
I had collected a plant's roots from October/2022 and I grinded then i saved it in dark place can i prepare an essential oil now ? or i must collecting the plant again ? ((E.oil must be prepared from fresh plant?))
Hello,
you can either use fresh roots or dried roots, but the roots should be ground directly before steam distillation. Otherwise a certain percentage of the essential oil will have evaporated during storage. In addition changes in the composition of the essential oil might occur during storage (e.g. hydrolysis, oxidation etc.).
Kind regards, Klaus Peter
Essential oils are volatile so it is advisable to extract them from the fresh plant. The extractive yield of essential oils is usually very small, so you may have probably lost much of the oil from this 2022 collection.
When you grind a plant it should immediately be used. However next time you can save the plant in an airless bag, such will preserve more the chemical compounds of the plant.
You can use fresh or dried material for the Destillation. Fresh plant material is always preferable, but sometimes the harvest of the plant is not in the same time as the planned Destillation. So, you have to carefully plan ahead 😅
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