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Lavender oil is an essential oil obtained by distillation from the flower spikes of certain species of lavender. Two forms are distinguished, lavender flower oil, a colorless oil, insoluble in water, having a density of 0.885 g/mL; and lavender spike oil, a distillate from the herb Lavandula latifolia, having density 0.905 g/mL. Like all essential oils, it is not a pure compound; it is a complex mixture of naturally occurring phytochemicals, including linalool and linalyl acetate. Kashmir Lavender oil is famous for being produced from lavender at the foothills of the Himalayas. As of 2011, the biggest lavender oil producer in the world is Bulgaria.
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Uses
Lavender oil has long been used in the production of perfume.
In aromatherapy lavender oil produces a significant decrement in performance of working memory and impaired reaction times for both memory and attention based tasks compared to controls.
Oil of spike lavender was used as a solvent in oil painting, mainly before the use of distilled turpentine became common.
Research
Lavender oil has been found to potentiate GABAA receptor currents in vitro. It has been found to have anxiolytic effects comparable to lorazepam in small clinical studies, which in animals were blocked by a 5-HT1A receptor antagonist but not by a GABAA receptor antagonist. Lavender oil may be useful for alleviating anxiety and sleep disorders. It also has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and mood alleviating effects.
There are case reports of topical lavender oil administration producing prepubertal gynecomastia. In vitro assessment with human cell lines found that lavender oil has estrogenic and antiandrogenic effects, though an in vivo study with rats found no evidence of estrogenic activity at the doses assayed. A small clinical study found that topical lavender oil in the form of an oil spray was effective in the treatment of young women with mild idiopathic hirsutism.
Composition
The exact composition of lavender essential oil varies from species to species but consists primarily of monoterpeneoids and sesquiterpeneoids. Of these linalool and linalyl acetate dominate, with moderate levels of lavandulyl acetate, terpinen-4-ol and lavandulol. 1,8-cineole and camphor are also present in low to moderate qualities. In all lavender oil typically contains many more than 100 compounds, although a great many of these are present at very low concentrations.
The composition of lavender essential oil as obtained by chromatography: