Rosewood oil is a valuable essential oil, especially in perfumery.[1] It contains the substance linalool, which has a number of uses.[2]
The oil is extracted from the wood of Aniba rosaeodora and Aniba parviflora and possibly other Aniba species.[3][4] When it arrives at the distillery, the wood is chipped, and then steam distilled. Each tree yields about 1% oil by weight of wood. After a history of massive overharvesting and species depletion, efforts are underway to cultivate A. rosaeodora, and to develop techniques for extracting the essential oil from leaves.
Because many unrelated woods are called "rosewood", some confusion has arisen about the origin of "rosewood oil". Members of the genus Dalbergia such as Brazilian rosewood (D. nigra) and Indian rosewood (D. latifolia) have never been a source of rosewood oil.[5]
- ^ "Chapter 4: Rosewood Oil". Flavours and fragrances of plant origin. fao.org. Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
- ^ Maia, José Guilherme S.; Andrade, Eloisa Helena A.; Couto, Hilma Alessandra R.; et al. (2007). "Plant sources of amazon rosewood oil" (PDF). Química Nova. 30 (8): 1906–10. doi:10.1590/S0100-40422007000800021.
- ^ Preedy, Victor R.: Essential Oils. Academic Press, 2016, ISBN 978-0-12-416641-7, p. 193–200.
- ^ Aniba terminalis on Useful Tropical Plants.
- ^ De Almeida, R. N.; Araújo, D. A.; Gonçalves, J. C.; Montenegro, F. C.; De Sousa, D. P.; Leite, J. R.; Mattei, R.; Benedito, M. A.; De Carvalho, J. G.; Cruz, J. S.; Maia, J. G. (2009). "Rosewood oil induces sedation and inhibits compound action potential in rodents". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 124 (3): 440–3. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2009.05.044. PMID 19505550.