Essential oils were initially produced in Egypt, as early as 3,500
BC. They were used extensively for aromatherapy in religion, as well as
for medicinal purposes. They were followed by the Chinese and Indians,
who used essential oils for aromatherapy massage as a treatment and
promoted them for health and the power of their fragrance. Since the
late 1970 and early 1980's the use of essential oils has become a major
part of alternative and holistic health systems, and has a huge
beneficial usage across the world.
Today the use of essential
oils has expanded into wider applications. Not only well known for
their health benefits, they also make an important contribution in the
flavor and fragrance areas. Essential oils also play significant roles
in cosmetics, perfumery, aromatherapy, personal care, and to a lesser
extent, in household, cleaning agents and toiletries.
Essential
oils, as the name refers, are concentrated hydrophobic liquids
containing volatile aromatic compounds, which are extracted from
natural plants. The botanical parts used to produce essential oils
vary, from roots, rhizomes, bark or buds, which are further processed
depending on what type of plant is used. However, the basic and the
most appropriate extraction methods are by distillation or solvent extraction.
Large amounts of botanical material are used to extract the oils, since
some plants have very low yields of oil contained in their specialized
oil cells.
Indonesia, as one of the world's largest producers
of essential oils, has long been producing key essential oils for the
world market. Some of the better known include: citronella, nutmeg,
ginger and ylang ylang. More recently as numerous botanical plants
native to Indonesia have been studied and their functional properties
been better appreciated, more essential oils have been introduced and
have started to be widely used. Amongst them are: patchouli, kaffir
lime, sandalwood, cajuput, cananga, clove bud and galangal.
Haldin
as one of Indonesia's leading extract producers has kept at the
forefront in utilising these rich Indonesian sources, by producing,
maintaining and distributing essential oils globally.
Haldin essential oils are completely unadulterated and exhibit the same degree of purity and the same high standard of quality.
