Ravintsara Essential Oil
Antibacterial, invigorating and clearing. Ravintsara Essential Oil has powerful antibacterial properties that can be used effectively during the cold season. Inhaling its vapours or adding a few drops to a vaporiser helps to keep airways clear. Similar in action to eucalyptus oil, but generally believed to be more powerful.
Ravintsara is the essential oil first described in the ground-breaking aromatherapy book ‘L’aromatherapie Exactement’ by Pierrre Franchomme and Dr Daniel Penoel, released in 1990.
Although the authors stated it was derived from Ravensara aromatica, the chemical profile they provided in the book makes it clear they were actually describing an essential oil obtained from a different species that has only recently been correctly identified and taxonomically re-classified as Cinamomum camphora c.t. cineol. The essential oil from this species is known as Ravintsara.
Obtained from the leaves of a tree native to Madagascar, Ravintsara Essential Oil has a sweet, soft camphoraceous and herbaceous aroma, with woody back-notes that make it similar to, but softer than eucalyptus. It is an excellent booster for the nrevous sytem and can be used in aromatherapy massage blends to maintain the immune system.
Please see the information below for further clarification about the differences between Ravintsara and Ravensara essential oils.
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Due to the confusion between two different botanical species of trees, there have been two distinct (but chemically quite different) essential oils known as ‘ravensara’ offered by distilleries and traders exporting from Madagascar during the 20th century. The first is obtained from Ravensara aromatica, and the second from Cinnamomum camphora (1,8 Cineole chemotype), and both species belong to the Lauraceae family.
These species had been considered identical for many years – even though the chemistry of the oils were clearly different. Now that botanists have finally agreed on the correct identification of the two species and amended their taxonomic descriptions, this has left the oil industry with a bit of a headache. We now know that the essential oil marketed for all these years as ravensara was actually derived from the species finally identified as Cinnamomum camphora, and not as originally believed from Ravensara aromatica.
Since the essential oil obtained from R. aromatica is used in industries other than aromatherapy, it was decided by the producers to rename the oil distilled from the leaves of C. camphora to Ravintsara. This does not seem to be a very well thought out designation, but along with most other suppliers we are embracing the change in the hope that eventually this will all become common knowledge!
Bottom line - if you are looking for the essential oil you have read about in aromatherapy books and articles, it is Ravintsara that you need, not Ravensara.
- Botanical Name:
- Cinnamomum camphora
- Country of Origin:
- Madagascar
- Extracted From:
- Leaves
- Extraction Method:
- Steam distillation
- Principal Constituents:
- 1,8 Cineole, Sabinene, a- Terpineol, a & b-Pinenes, Terpinine-4-ol
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