COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF VOLATILE OILS AND THEIR CONSTITUENTS.
Reading edition
Not only do volatile oils as such find important uses in commerce, but the great variety of constituents, one of which in many cases forms the major part of an oil, find equally important uses commercially.
Such constituents as have antiseptic properties occur widely in plant oils and are of untold value to the medical profession, to the manufacturer of pharmaceutical preparations, and to the maker of toilet lotions and dentifrices. Many volatile oils also contain constituents which are recognized as very important in the perfumery industries, their value depending not so much upon their own inherent odor as upon the effect which they produce in modifying or toning the fragrance of a mixture of several components. The finest perfumes are often mixtures of odors blended together and frequently contain oils which in themselves would not be regarded as very agreeable or pleasing in odor. In some instances a single constituent, as for instance citral, the chief constituent of lemon-grass oil, is used in its own pure condition without the admixture of other odors, as in the scenting of fine toilet soaps.
As flavoring agents considerable use is made of many of the volatile oils or of their constituents. For example, the oils of sassafras, peppermint, cinnamon, and wintergreen are used by confectioners in the flavoring of candies. The chief constituents of these oils (safrol, menthol, cinnamic aldehyde, and methyl salicylate) can, with the exception of menthol, be used with equal efficiency.
Many essential oils and the compounds isolated from them have proven highly useful in therapeutics, and enter into a number of medicinal preparations. Such constituents as menthol from peppermint oil, eugenol from clove oil, methyl salicylate from wintergreen and sweet-birch oils, thymol from thyme and horsemint oils, camphor from camphor oil, borneol from Borneo camphor oil, cineol from eucalyptus oil, and many others, comprise a group of medicaments which are indispensable.
From the foregoing account of volatile oils and their important constituents may be observed the possibilities which lie in this field of investigation. It is probable that a thoroughgoing examination of the wild flora of the United States would reveal the presence of volatile oils in many plants which at present are not known to yield volatile products. This possibility should stimulate the search for these products with a view to their commercial utilization.