Name       Bay Essential Oil, Jamaican Premium

Category  Essential Oils

Species    Pimenta racemosa (P. Miller) J.W. Moore (P. acris Kostel), fam. Myrtaceae

Part           Leaf

Method     Steam Distillation

Class        Phenol

Country    Jamaican

Code         PimRac2

Bay Essential Oil, Jamaican Premium

Bay Essential Oil, Jamician Premium (Pimenta racemosa), the color of Bay leaf is yellowish to dark brown.  The smell is fresh spicy with enduring sweet balsamic undertones.  Eugenol occurs naturally as a methylether.  Myrcene, limonene dipentene and citral are also natural constituents.  Bay leaf is used in hair lotions, after shave, and other men's products.  Their are often field questions about the differences between premium and the non-premium.  Of course both materials are considered analytically correct.  But specific minor differences in chemistry can and will significantly altar aroma.  In terms of scent most professionals will prefer the premium.  Occasionally there will be a minority opinion even among trained professionals.  The same is true for therapeutic use.  Most professionals will take the preium over the non-premium.  However, we are not aware of any definitive researsh verifying a premium has better therapeutic benefit than its less expensive counterpart.  To some degree it is a matter of subjective preference, but most professionals will usually agree with our distributor professional opinion.  Our distributor premium oils have a superior analysis and aroma based on the standard for that oil in a given chemo type.  That is not to say a non premium is not excellent oil and many knowledgeable clients use both.

In aromatherapy essential oil is considered beneficial for various conditions and lifestyle applications.  In many of these applications the scent is not the critical issue. For instance, the Lemon Catnip oil has an attractive aroma but would probably not discourage biting insects as effectively as the high nepetalactone Catnip.  Of course this isn't the greatest example because these are two distinctly different chemo types.  But the conclusion is the nepetalactone is the critical issue in discouraging biting insects, not the aroma.  And even in the same chemo type the levels of certain constituents will vary.  In certain cases it may be the critical chemical compent for that therapeutic use is higher in oil with a less attractive aroma.  The meaning is clear that until the active component is identified it will be difficult to determine which oil has better therapeutic value, regardless of scent.  An attractive aroma is certainly what it takes to make a good Chanel number 5, but may not be what it takes to help your client with his insomnia.