How Much Essential Oil Can I Get From My Raw Material?

by Iurii ZhukovFeb 06, 20240 comments

There are three things that have an impact on the yield of essential oils produced with your copper still.

The size of the column
The volume of the raw material
The average oil content of the raw material to be used.

The Column.

The bigger the column the better! For raw materials extracted by water distillation the yield is determined by the size of the boiler. Although there are some exceptions to this rule such as clove buds or coffee beans, (see the chart below). However, for most raw materials destined for essential oil extraction, the size of the column is crucial to consider when choosing your copper distiller.

The Volume.

Since oil content is calculated for the weight of the raw material, it is the volume of 1 kg of any raw material that defines how much you will be able to put into the column, at any one time. For example: 1 lb/1 kg of eucalyptus dry leaves takes 3 to 4 times more space than 1 lb/1 kg of dry rosemary leaves.

To ascertain the volume of any raw material you should get a bucket and fill it with your chosen raw material. You must then weigh the contents, raw material, you have in the bucket. Once you know how much your raw material weighs you can calculate the volume.

For instance:

4 lb (15L) of lavender flowers has a weight of 6.6 lb/3 kg.

To determine the volume of 1 lb/1 kg of this raw material you must divide volume by weight.

So: 4/6,6 = 0,6 lb (15/5 = 5 kg)

Thus - 1 lb of lavender flowers takes 0,6 lb (5L) of volume.

If your raw material has an average 2% essential oil content, you will get 0,6*0,02=0,012 pounds or 0,42 oz from 1g of the lavender flowers (1000 g *0,02 = 20 g of essential oil).

If you have a 0,53 g column you will get 0,53*0,42=0,22 oz from the raw material as demonstrated in the above example.

The Average Percentage Content of Essential Oils in Raw Materials.

The content of essential oil in 1 lb/1 kg of raw material can vary from 5/6 oz (350 ml) of essential oil to 0,08 oz (0,5 ml) - or even less! Below is a chart that indicates the average percentage essential oil yield for different types of fresh raw materials. These oil content percentages are approximate values only. The quality of the raw material influences the exact essential oil percentage yield.

‘Mode’ is the preferred way to extract essential oil.

SD for steam distillation

SW for steam and water distillation

SE for solvent extraction

WD for water distillation

CE for cold expression

AROMATIC PLANT	BOTANICAL NAME	SOURCE	MODE	% YIELD
ALLSPICE	PIMENTA DIOCA	GROUND SEEDS	SD	4,5
ANGELICA	ANGELICA ARCHANGELICA	RHIZOME	SD	0.3 – 1.0
ANGELICA	ANGELICA ARCHANGELICA	SEED	SD	0.6 – 1.5
ANISE	PIMPINELLA ANISUM	SEED	SD	1.5 – 4.0
ARNICA	ARNICA MONTANA	FLOWERS	SD	1,0
ARNICA	ARNICA MONTANA	ROOT	SD	1,0
BASIL, SWEET	OCIMUM BASILICUM	LEAVES & TOPS	SD	0.5 – 1.5
BAY LEAF	LAURUS NOBILIS	LEAVES	SD	3,0
BENZOIN	STYRAX BENZOIN	RESIN	SE	?
BERGAMOT	CITRUS BERGAMIA	YOUNG FRUIT	CE/SE	3.0 – 5.0
CAJEPUT OIL	MELALEUCA CAJEPUTI	LEAVES & TWIGS	SD	?
CALAMINT	CALAMINTHA OFFICINALIS	FLOWERING TOPS	SD	0,5
CALAMUS ROOT	ACORUS CALAMUS	RHIZOME	SD	1,5
CAMPHOR TREE	CINNAMOMUM CAMPHORA	LEAVES & TWIGS	SD	2,0
CARAWAY	CARUM CARVI	SEEDS & FRUIT	SD	3.2 – 7.4
CARDAMOM	ELETTARIA CARDAMOMUM	SEEDS	SD	8
CARROT, WILD	DAUCUS CARROTA	SEEDS	SD	0.1 – 7.1
CASCARILLA	CROTON ELEUTERIA	BARK	SD	3,0
CASSIA BARK	CINNAMOMUM CASSIA	LEAVES & BARK	SD	1,5
CASSIE	ACACIA FARNESIANA	FLOWERS	SE	1,9
CEDARWOOD	JUNIPERUS VIRGINIANA	WOOD CHIPS	SD	4,5
CELERY SEED	APIUM GRAVEOLENS	SEED	SD	3,0
CHAMOMILE, GERMAN	MATRICARIA RECUTITA	FLOWERS	SD	0.3 – 1.0
CHAMOMILE, ROMAN	CHAMAEMELUM NOBILIS	FLOWERS	SD	0.3 – 1.0
CINNAMON	CINNAMOMUM ZEYLANICUM	INNER BARK	SD	0,1
CLARY SAGE	SALVIA SCLARIA	LEAVES & TOPS	SD	?
CLOVE	SYZGIUM AROMATICUM	FLOWER BUDS	WD	14 – 21
COFFEE	COFFEA Sp.	ROASTED BEANS	WD	0,12
CORIANDER	CORIANDRUM SATIVUM	SEEDS	SD	1,0
DILL	ANETHUM GRAVEOLENS	SEED	SD/WD	2.5 – 4.0
DILL LEAF	ANETHUM GRAVEOLENS	YOUNG PLANTS	SD/WD	0.3 – 1.5
EUCALYPTUS	EUCALYPTUS Sp.	ALL PARTS	SD	1.0 – 7.0
FENNEL	FOENICULUM VULGARE	SEED	SD	4.0 – 6.0
FRANKINCENSE	BOSWELLIA CARTERI	RESIN	SD	?
GALANGAL	ALPINIA Sp.	RHIZOME	SD/SE	?
GARLIC	ALLIUM SATIVUM	ROOT BULBS	SD	0,1
GERANIUM	PELARGONIUM GRAVEOLENS	LEAVES	SD	0.3 – 2.0
GINGER	ZINGIBER Off.	RHIZOME	SD	3,0
HOPS	HUMULUS LUPULUS	STROBILES	SD	1,0
HYSSOP	HYSSOPUS Off.	LEAVES & TOPS	SD	1,0
IRIS (ORIS)	IRIS PALLIDA	AGED RHIZOME	SD/SE	0,2
JUNIPER BERRIES	JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS	FERMENTED BERRIES	SD	1,5
JUNIPER LEAVES	JUNIPERUS Sp.	NEEDLE LEAVES	SD	1.0 – 2.5
LAVENDER	LAVENDULA ANGUSTIFOLIA	FLOWER TOPS	SD	0.5 – 1.0
LEMON BALM	MELISSA Off.	LEAVES & TOPS	SD	0.015
LEMON PEEL	CITRUS LIMON	FRUIT RIND	CE/SD	2,0
LEMON VERBENA	ALOYSIA TRIPHYLLA	LEAVES & TOPS	SD	1,5
LEMONGRASS	CYMBOPOGON CITRATUS	LEAVES	SD	1,0
LIME	CITRUS AURANTIFOLIA	FRUIT RIND	CE/SD	?
LOVAGE	LEVISTICUM Off.	ROOT	SD	0.5 – 1.0
MACE	MYRISTICA FRAGRANS	ARILS	SD/WD	17.0 – 25.0
MANDARIN	CITRUS RETICULATA	FRUIT RIND	CE/SD	0,5
MARJORAM, SWEET	ORIGANUM MAJORANA	LEAVES	SD	0,9
MUSTARD, BLACK	BRASSICA NIGRA	SEEDS	SD/WD	1,5
NEROLI	CITRUS AURANTIUM	BLOSSOMS	SE/SD	0,1
NUTMEG	MYRISTICA FRAGRANS	SEED	SD	15.0 – 25.0
ORANGE PEEL	CITRUS Species	FRUIT RIND	CE/SD	1.5 – 5.0
OREGANO	ORIGANUM VULGARE	FLOWERS	SD	1,2
PARSLEY	PETROSELENIUM SATIVUM	LEAVES OR SEEDS	SD	0,5
PATCHOULI	POGOSTEMOM CABLIN	LEAVES	SD	2.0 – 4.0
PENNYROYAL	MENTHA PULEGIUM	LEAVES	SD	1,5
PEPPER, BLACK	PIPER NIGRUM	PEPPERCORNS	SD/SE	2,5
PEPPER, CUBEB	PIPER CUBEBA	FRUITS	SD	2,0
PEPPER, WHITE	PIPER NIGRUM	POWDERED SEEDS	SD	1,5
PEPPERMINT	MENTHA PIPERITA	LEAVES & TOPS	SD	1.0 – 2.5
PETIGRAIN	CITRUS AURANTIUM	LEAVES & TWIGS	SD	0,5
PINE SAP	PINUS Species	RESIN	SD/WD	15.0 – 35.0
PINE NEEDLES	PINUS Species	NEEDLES	SD	0.5 – 3.0
ROSE, DAMASK	ROSA X DAMASCENA	FLOWERS	SD/WD /SE	0.02 – 0.03
ROSEMARY	ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS	FLOWERING TOPS	SD	2,0
SAGE	SALVIA OFFICINALIS	LEAVES	SD	2,5
SANDALWOOD	SANTALUM ALBUM	ROOT WOOD	SD	4,5
SASSAFRAS	SASSAFRAS ALBIDUM	ROOT BARK	SD	4,0
SAVORY, SUMMER	SATUREJA HORTENSIS	LEAVES & STEMS	SD	0,1
SPEARMINT	MENTHA SPICATA	LEAVES & TOPS	SD	2,0
STAR ANISE	ILLICIUM VERUM	SEEDS	SD	3,0
STYRAX	LIQUIDAMBAR ORIENTALIS	CRUDE RESIN	SD/SE	?
TANSY	TANACETUM VULGARE	LEAVES & TOPS	SD	0,7
TARRAGON	ARTEMISIA DRACUNCULUS	LEAVES & TOPS	SD	0.08 – 1.5
TEA TREE	MELALEUCA ALTERNIFOLIA	LEAVES & TWIGS	SD	?
THYME	THYMUS VULGARIS	LEAVES & TWIGS	SD	2,5
TUMERIC	CURCUMA LONGA	ROOT POWDER	SD	5,0
VALERIAN	VALERIANA OFFICINALIS	RHIZOME	SD	1,0
VANILLA	VANILLA FRAGRANS	CURED PODS	SE	0.5 – 3.0
VETIVER	VETIVERIA ZIZANIOIDES	ROOT	SD	0,9
VIRGINIA SNAKEROOT	ARISTOLOCHIA SERPENTARIA	RHIZOME	SD	1,2
WINTERGREEN	GAULTHERIA PROCUMBENS	LEAVES	SD	0,6
WORMWOOD	ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM	LEAVES & TOPS	SD/SE	0.5 – 2.0
YARROW	ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM	LEAVES & TOPS	SD	0,15
YLANG YLANG	CANANGA ODORATA	FLOWERS	SD	2,0