Hydrosols - What Are They and How Should They Be Stored

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Howdy y'all,

 

That post I sent .. made in December 2003 ,, did not (in my opinion)

explain this subject as well as it could have .. so I just updated it and am

submitting it again now. ;-)

 

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Hydrosols are a by-product of the distillation process. When we distill an

aromatic .. we get four products .. the Essential Oil, Hydrosol, Spent

Aromatic Material .. and Waste Water. Don't confuse the waste water with

the Hydrosol. The waste water is water put into the still and boiled to

allow distillation .. it is dumped out with the spent aromatic material

following the distillation process. Confusion can occur so I will go

through this in some detail. When we bring the water in a still to a

boiling point some of that water will go from a solid state to a gaseous

state .. as will the EO .. and then return to a solid state when it goes

through the (cool) condenser .. that particular water is now an EO bearing

water .. it is a Hydrosol. The remaining water .. probably 98% of it .. is

waste water.

 

Again .. the Hydrosol is that water that is condensed into the Florentine

Flask and upon which the essential oil, which is lighter than water, is

floating. Hydrosols contain water soluble aromatic chemicals not found in

the EO as well as those chemicals found in the EO. Check it out for

yourself in the photos on pages 1 and 2 of the following link:

http://www.av-at.com/distillation/rosadamascena1.html

 

Hydrosols are far less concentrated than EOs .. are safer and gentler to use

than the EOs .. and are more representative of the actual chemical

composition of the aromatic plant than are the EO.

 

Hydrosols contain certain amounts of the EO. That amount will depend upon

two things .. the price of the EO and how hydrophilic the Hydrosol is.

Meaning .. some EO will remain in the water at a greater percentage .. and

if the EO is not costly, it is not economically feasible to remove it all.

But for some, like Rose Otto in particular and also Melissa .. both very

hydrophilic, a process called Cohobation removes the lion's share of the EO

from the oil-bearing waters via a second form of distillation .. of the

Hydrosol only. Contrary to the misinformation contained in one of the

books on Hydrosols .. the spent plant material is NEVER used a second

time. To further clarify this .. Oregano hydrosol will have more EO in it

than will Rose or Melissa Hydrosols because (1) It is a cheaper oil so the

expense of cohobation would not be justified .. and (2) It is not a highly

hydrophilic oil in the first place .. most of the EO from the distillation

will already be in the EO catch container (the Florentine Flask) so there is

no reason to cohobate to get more oil from the Hydrosol.

 

Terms: Some folks prefer the term Hydrolat .. and some prefer Hydrosol .. I

can handle either .. but I can handle ONLY those two terms. More later on

that. Many rumors exist about Hydrosols .. some are based on misinformation

common in this industry .. others are based on incorrect information in some

publications. Contrary to popular belief, Hydrosols are NOT clear as a

crystal, they will look cloudy if not filtered often and this filtering

begins at the still .. but we must do it again after a barrel has set in

place for a while. My employees filter Hydrosols each time they fill an

order .. so when you see a clear Hydrosol .. know that it has been filtered.

The reason filtering is done is because in addition to traces of EO in that

water, there will also be fine or even microscopic pieces of plant material

in the Hydrosol.

 

There is one more reason why a Hydrosol might appear to be clear .. that is

if the seller was greedy and mixed a small amount of the Hydrosol with a

large amount of Distilled Water.

 

On terms .. I don't have a BIG problem with the term " Distillate " but

I think it can be confused with other terms. I do have problems with

" Aromatic Waters " but it is probably more descriptive of what some folks get

- but not what they really want. To me, that's like recombined or condensed

fruit juice. Folks take some distilled water, drop in some EO or Absolute

and then shake their booty till its ready to sell. But it has to be shaken

often and it does NOT have the water-soluble chemical components of a

Hydrosol.

 

The term I hate and one that is prohibited in my company - is FLORAL WATERS

... folks who don't have stills can make floral waters - but they can't make

Hydrosols or Hydrolats without a still. The process used to create Floral

Waters is not too different than what one would get from soaking horse

manure in distilled water and calling it Manure Hydrosol. Such an odor

might appeal to a gud ol' Texas boy who was raised on a ranch but now lives

in the big city. In fact, it could even have therapeutic value for that

feller .. from an emotional or psychological point of view.

 

I'll tell you something you should watch out for with some Hydrosols -

micro bacteria and mold!!! From a safety standpoint there is even far more

reason to test Hydrosols than there is EO .. Hydrosols are taken internally

by many folks - rubbed on the skin and in the eyes by many other folks .. so

in my opinion, its important to test them on a regular basis .. and we do

that every 90 days .. at Superior Labs, Inc., 1075 Amity Road, Galloway,

Ohio 43119 .. they are an authorized agency for testing drinking water and

hold the following credentials .. (1) Ohio EPA Water Approval No. 890 ..

(2.) USDA Accreditation Number 3983.

 

Hydrosols are basically oil bearing water and water is an ideal breeding

ground for microbes, fungus and mold. Ideally, we can extend the shelf life

(somewhat) by refrigerating hydrosols and that's because refrigeration slows

the growth of bacteria - that's why we use refrigerators for foods.

Refrigeration reduces the likelihood of these things happening - doesn't

prevent it - reduces it. Doesn't prevent your mayonnaise from going bad

either but reduces the likelihood and extends the shelf life. But most

foods will contain bacteria already .. this is not true of a Hydrosol as it

exits the still Sterile and if the Hydrosol is then stored in Sterile

barrels .. its later that it can become contaminated .. by the sellers and

the end users.

 

Ensuring that containers used for Hydrosols are sterile is important. The

drinking water we get from the tap is NOT sterile .. and reports of analysis

of my Hydrosols have always indicated that they are more sterile than many

of the bottled drinking waters found on grocery shelves. How can this be?

As I said, when they exit the still they are sterile. For my Turkish

hydrosols - I have new barrels constructed by a company in Istanbul and they

deliver them to the still .. they have my codes stamped in them so I can

control such things - not easy with distillers outside but I have put the

word out that I will stop buying from anyone who takes shortcuts. I'm

telling you all this because folks in this industry do not tell of their

failures - they only talk of their successes - so watch out. I would highly

recommend that other sellers consider having their Hydrosols tested at the

location I just provided .. it is not expensive.

 

SO - ideally ALL Hydrosols should be refrigerated. But keeping them locked

tight, out of sight, out of the light and not contaminating them ourselves

by touching the lip of the bottle or the cap or pouring unused hydrosol back

into the container, etc., also helps greatly in avoiding contamination. It

is almost always the end user who contaminates hydrosols - same with

cosmetics. One buyer I had was keeping their Hydrosols in a cool .. but

damp .. basement. They were also pouring their Hydrosols from a large

container into a smaller one in that basement. The basement (I later

learned) did smell muskey .. and I was not surprised when that buyer's

Hydrosols became contaminated with mold spores. The spores were in the

air so when the cap on the larger container was removed .. physics took over

and that container sucked in those spores like a vacuum cleaner.

 

I have in the past purchased some Hydrosols in metric tons so finding a

refrigerator that large was not an option .. we kept the 50 kilo barrels in

a temperature controlled air conditioned warehouse. You might face the

same problem with gallon sizes of Hydrosols .. if this happens .. just keep

them in the coolest place you can .. preferably above ground.

 

Most EOs will not allow bacterial or fungal contamination. And this also

holds for some Hydrosols .. Oregano Hydrosol will not because the Carvacrol

in the Hydrosol doesn't let them survive.

 

There are many therapeutic uses for hydrosols - especially Rose ... its used

for cooking, as a spritz for and directly in the eyes to cure conjunctivitis

... Yarrow Hydrosol is effective as an anti-inflammatory for problem skin ..

Oregano Hydrosol is antimicrobial and calms the stomach .. aids digestion.

All of the Hydrosols have some therapeutic value.

 

That's it I reckon. Y'all keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch .. http://www.AV-AT.com <http://www.av-at.com/>