Oleoresin

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Oleoresins are semi-solid extracts composed of resin and essential or fatty oil, obtained by evaporation of the solvents used for their production. [1] The oleoresin of conifers is known as crude turpentine or gum turpentine, which consists of oil of turpentine and rosin. [2]

Contents

Properties

In contrast to essential oils obtained by steam distillation, oleoresins abound in heavier, less volatile and lipophilic compounds, such as resins, waxes, fats and fatty oils. Gummo-oleoresins (oleo-gum resins, gum resins) occur mostly as crude balsams and contain also water-soluble gums. Processing of oleoresins is conducted on a large scale, especially in China (400,000 tons per year in the 1990s), but the technology is too labor-intensive to be viable in countries with high labor costs, such as the US. [3]

Oleoresins are prepared from spices, such as basil, capsicum (paprika), cardamom, celery seed, cinnamon bark, clove bud, fenugreek, fir balsam, ginger, jambu, labdanum, mace, marjoram, nutmeg, parsley, pepper (black/white), pimenta (allspice), rosemary, sage, savory (summer/winter), thyme, turmeric, vanilla, and West Indian bay leaves. The solvents used are nonaqueous and may be polar (alcohols) or nonpolar (hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide). [4]

Oleoresins are similar to perfumery concretes, obtained especially from flowers, and to perfumery resinoids, which are prepared also from animal secretions.

Use

Oleoresin Capsicum tear gas being sprayed on a guardsman Flickr - The U.S. Army - Oleoresin Capsicum gas.jpg
Oleoresin Capsicum tear gas being sprayed on a guardsman

Most oleoresins are used as flavors and perfumes, some are used medicinally (e. g., oleoresin of Cannabis). Oleoresin capsicum is commonly used as a basis for pepper sprays. There are also uses known in the manufacture of soaps of cosmetics, as well as coloring agents for foods. A well-known pipe thread sealant, Rectorseal #5, is stated to have an "oleoresinous base".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Resin</span> Solid or highly viscous substance

In polymer chemistry and materials science, a resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses mainly on naturally occurring resins.

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Perfumes can be defined as substances that emit and diffuse a pleasant and fragrant odor. They consist of manmade mixtures of aromatic chemicals and essential oils. The 1939 Nobel Laureate for Chemistry, Leopold Ružička stated in 1945 that "right from the earliest days of scientific chemistry up to the present time, perfumes have substantially contributed to the development of organic chemistry as regards methods, systematic classification, and theory."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turpentine</span> Liquid distilled from pine resin

Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principally used as a specialized solvent, it is also a source of material for organic syntheses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vegetable oil</span> Oil extracted from seeds or from other parts of plants

Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are mixtures of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fats from seeds. Olive oil, palm oil, and rice bran oil are examples of fats from other parts of plants. In common usage, vegetable oil may refer exclusively to vegetable fats which are liquid at room temperature. Vegetable oils are usually edible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varnish</span> Transparent hard protective finish or film

Varnish is a clear transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not to be confused with wood stain. It usually has a yellowish shade due to the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmented as desired. It is sold commercially in various shades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essential oil</span> Hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants

An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An essential oil is essential in the sense that it contains the essence of the plant's fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived. The term "essential" used here does not mean indispensable or usable by the human body, as with the terms essential amino acid or essential fatty acid, which are so called because they are nutritionally required by a living organism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosin</span> Solid form of resin

Rosin, also called colophony or Greek pitch, is a solid form of resin obtained from pines and some other plants, mostly conifers, produced by heating fresh liquid resin to vaporize the volatile liquid terpene components. It is semi-transparent and varies in color from yellow to black. At room temperature rosin is brittle, but it melts at stove-top temperature. It chiefly consists of various resin acids, especially abietic acid. The term colophony comes from colophonia resina, Latin for "resin from Colophon", an ancient Ionic city. It is an FDA approved food additive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balsam</span> Index of plants with the same common name

Balsam is the resinous exudate which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs. Balsam owes its name to the biblical Balm of Gilead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada balsam</span> Turpentine made from balsam fir tree resin

Canada balsam, also called Canada turpentine or balsam of fir, is the oleoresin of the balsam fir tree of boreal North America. The resin, dissolved in essential oils, is a viscous, sticky, colourless or yellowish liquid that turns to a transparent yellowish mass when the essential oils have been allowed to evaporate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Absolute (perfumery)</span>

Used in perfumery and aromatherapy, absolutes are similar to essential oils. They are concentrated, highly aromatic, oily mixtures extracted from plants. Whereas essential oils are produced by distillation, boiling, or pressing, absolutes are produced through solvent extraction, or more traditionally, through enfleurage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benzoin (resin)</span> Balsamic resin from trees in genus Styrax

Benzoin or benjamin is a balsamic resin obtained from the bark of several species of trees in the genus Styrax. It is used in perfumes and some kinds of incense and as a flavoring and medicine. It is distinct from the chemical compound benzoin, which is ultimately derived chemically from benzoin resin; the primary active ingredient of benzoin resin is actually benzoic acid, not benzoin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galbanum</span> Gum resin

Galbanum is an aromatic gum resin and a product of certain umbelliferous Persian plant species in the genus Ferula, chiefly Ferula gummosa and Ferula rubricaulis. Galbanum-yielding plants grow plentifully on the slopes of the mountain ranges of northern Iran. It occurs usually in hard or soft, irregular, more or less translucent and shining lumps, or occasionally in separate tears, of a light-brown, yellowish or greenish-yellow colour. Galbanum has a disagreeable, bitter taste, a peculiar, a somewhat musky odour, and an intense green scent. With a specific gravity of 1.212, it contains about 8% terpenes; about 65% of a resin which contains sulfur; about 20% gum; and a very small quantity of the colorless crystalline substance umbelliferone. It also contains α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, cadinene, 3-carene, and ocimene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval stores industry</span>

The naval stores industry produces and markets products derived from the oleoresin of pine trees, including rosin, tall oil, pine oil, and turpentine. It does this by collecting and processing organic forest products refined from slash pine and longleaf pine trees. The naval stores industry was associated with the maintenance of the wooden ships and sailing tackle of pre-20th century navies, which were caulked and waterproofed using the pitch of the pine tree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copaiba</span> Resin and essential oil from South American Copaifera trees

Copaiba is an oleoresin obtained from the trunk of several pinnate-leaved South American leguminous trees. The thick, transparent exudate varies in color from light gold to dark brown, depending on the ratio of resin to essential oil. Copaiba is used in making varnishes and lacquers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juniper berry</span> Spice, herbal drug

A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by the various species of junipers. It is not a true berry but a cone with unusually fleshy and merged scales called a galbulus, which gives it a berry-like appearance. The cones from a handful of species, especially Juniperus communis, are used as a spice, particularly in European cuisine, and also give gin its distinctive flavour. Juniper berries are among the only spices derived from conifers, along with spruce buds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hash oil</span> Oleoresin obtained by the extraction of cannabis or hashish

Hash oil or cannabis oil is an oleoresin obtained by the extraction of cannabis or hashish. It is a cannabis concentrate containing many of its resins and terpenes – in particular, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and other cannabinoids. Hash oil is usually consumed by smoking, vaporizing or eating. Preparations of hash oil may be solid or semi-liquid colloids depending on both production method and temperature and are usually identified by their appearance or characteristics. Color most commonly ranges from transparent golden or light brown, to tan or black. There are various extraction methods, most involving a solvent, such as butane or ethanol.

Concrete, in perfumery, is a waxy mass obtained by solvent extraction of fresh plant material. It is usually used for the production of absolutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opopanax (perfumery)</span>

Opopanax is the commercial name of bisabol or bissabol, the fragrant oleo-gum-resin of Commiphora guidottii. It has been a major export article from Somalia since ancient times, and is called hebbakhade, habaghadi or habak hadi in Somali. It is an important ingredient in perfumery and therefore known as scented myrrh, sweet myrrh, perfumed myrrh or perfumed bdellium.

Resinoids are extracts of resinous plant exudates.

References

  1. Commission, British Pharmacopoeia (2009), "EXTRACTS", British Pharmacopoeia , vol. 3, Stationery Office, ISBN   978-0-11-322799-0
  2. "Turpentine". Britannica. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  3. Lars-Hugo Norlin (2002). "Tall Oil". Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry . Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. doi:10.1002/14356007.a26_057. ISBN   978-3527306732.
  4. George A. Burdock (2010), Fenaroli's Handbook of Flavor Ingredients (6th ed.), Taylor & Francis, ISBN   978-1-4200-9077-2