Roots: Oils from North Africa

The essential oils of Morocco illustrate the emerging dual nature of the human experience with medicinal and aromatic plants: to characterize essential oils according to their active component groups and to understand their cultural history. The cultural environment of the oils’ geographical origin often provides us with basic knowledge about the qualities and uses of a specific plant.

Atlas Cedar, Armoise and the other oils from Morocco have become commodities in the global essential oil trade because French colonizers saw these materials as one more valuable resource for its fragrance industry. (How cultural wisdom from around the world contributes to the body of experience of aromatherapy will be discussed at the 30th anniversary lectures on November 16 and 17 in San Francisco)

Lemon Verbena # 128
Because of its content of potentially photosensitizing so-called photo-citrals and furo coumarins the fragrance industry considers Lemon Verbena (Lippia citriodora) oil to present a high risk of photo sensitization. In the aromatherapy community no corresponding observations have surfaced. This may be attributable to the relatively high price of the oil and that it is only included in blends in low concentration so that this risk is inadvertently diffused.

The overall composition of Lemon Verbena essential oil is dominated by the isomeric aldehydes Neral and Geranial. Together, as an unseparated mixture they are commonly referred to as Citral. Different than the Asian essential oils of Lemongrass or May Chang which contain often more than 70% of Citral, its content in Lemon Verbena oil is decidedly lower, usually between 15 and 30 %. This allows the oil to be much milder and much less irritant than the former two.

The composition of Lemon Verbena essential oil is quite complex, components of many different chemical families are present. Anti inflammatory sesquiterpenes such as germacrene and curcumene occur next to sesquiterpene alcohols such as spathulenol and sesquiterpene dienols as well as esters like neryl or geranyl acetate. The oil also contains unusual sesquiterpene oxides.

Correspondingly complex are the therapeutic properties French aromatherapy attributes to the essential oil. It is a powerful anti inflammatory and calming agent and is described in the French aromatherapy literatureto support thyroid and pancreas function.

Lemon Verbena essential oil has a most radiant fragrance, which might well be the most universally appreciated fragrance among common essential oils.

Tanacetum annuum # 103
The essential oil of Tanacetum annuum is distilled from an annual in Northern Morocco. Its chamazulene blue color and slightly fruity fragrance give it a unique character. Authentic oils of Tanacetum annuum display a fairly complex array of different sesquiterpene lactones. Conventional wisdom suggests that these sesquiterpene lactones are responsible for its special anti inflammatory qualities, inhibiting the release of histamine. It has been used extensively to ameliorate or prevent asthma symptoms as well as dermatitis.

Atlas Cedar # 106
The essential oil of Atlas Cedar is valued for its fragrance, an enchanting base note. Smelling and feeling the essential oil reveals its high sesquiterpene content, without any need for chemical analysis. It has a powerful resonance with the circulatory system and is described in French aromatherapy as tonic to the lymph as well as lipolytic, meaning it acts to solubilize fat deposits.

Ammi visnaga # 100
Khella (Ammi visnaga) essential oil also has come to aromatherapy in a two step path. One aspect was the above mentioned interests of the French fragrance industry and the other the specific approach of French style aromatherapy which recognized the medicinal values of this member of the Apiaceae family.

Khella essential oil is a powerful agent to release spasms and to provide relief from kidney and gall bladder colics as well as asthma symptoms. Because of its pronounced content of diverse coumarins, furo coumarins and pyro coumarins the oil should probably not be used in an ongoing fashion. It is, however, the experience of some in the aromatherapy community that brief internal and also topical use to counteract emergencies did not produce obvious undesirable effects.
Because of its coumarin content the oil might present a strong risk of photosensitization if used topically under sunlight.

Oreganum # 135
Oreganum oils found on the market may have different plant species from which they originate. The common denominator apparently is a high content of carvacrol, the phenolic component with the typical Oreganum fragrance. The two oils most often found in aromatherapy are distilled from Oreganum compactum and also Oreganum elongatum. Oils distilled from O. heracleuticum are found less frequently. Distillates of O. vulgare are rare to nonexistent. Spanish originating Oregano oil is distilled from Thymus capitatus.

The Oregano oils are powerful antibacterial and antifungal agents. But it challenges the aromatherapist to create synergies that soften the irritant impact of the Oregano, but still preserve its efficacy. In French aromatherapy its recommended uses are mostly internal and via suppositories.

Myrtle # 733
Essential oils distilled from Myrtus communis in Morocco have a relatively high proportion of esters, especially terpenyl acetate and present a generally different sensation vis-a-vis the oils from Corsica.

The main therapeutic uses for the Moroccan Myrtle are as vein and lymph decongestant. With its mild character and typical, elegant Myrtle fragrance the oil recommends itself as main component of nurturing skin and body oils.

Moroccan Thyme # 219
Thymus satureioides is significantly different from other common Thyme and Oregano oils. It contains a significant proportion of borneol and a lesser proportion of phenols. It is less irritant than Thyme thymol or Oreganum compactum and it has a different set of properties.

Where phenolic Thyme and Oregano oils are well suited to treat acute infections, Thymus satureioides is appropriate for chronic infections as it integrates the qualities of borneol, which has the unique ability to down regulate pathologically elevated levels of gamma globulins as they occur in many chronic conditions.

Armoise # 752
The oils pedigree is only insufficiently rendered by the English word “Mugwort,” Artemisia herba alba. In aromatherapy it is known as an oil with a rather high Thujone content that needs to be used carefully, if at all, because of the toxicity associated with ketones. Besides the standard application as a mucolytic different individuals have explored specific qualities of this oil in a ritualistic context.

However, when the distillation is just right, Armoise may almost be a perfume in itself, it provides a hard to describe floral note over the ketone base which can be quite captivating. There are two separate Artemisia herba alba distillates on the site, #152 Mugwort and # 752, both from Morocco. The latter has the most exquisite fragrance.