The Art of Capturing Botanical Essences
- aglasgow8
- May 31, 2020
- 1 min read
Updated: Feb 22, 2024
How does one capture the scent of a flower, a leaf, a grass? Smell is the least understood of our senses. The debate continues as it is not clear how scent is captured or registered by the nose. Is it the molecule, or is it the vibration that triggers the information sent to the brain? Vibration is winning out in the scientific debates, as molecules from various plants may be identical in their chemistry, but smell totally different.
So elusive, so transcendent, so powerful. Each inhale of the plant's compounds sends signals deep into our limbic brain and causes cascades of effects...emotional, chemical, hormonal, electrical and more.
One whiff, and you may be transported to an alpine snow covered slope, the briny seaside, Italian orange groves, a bustling city, or your grandmother's kitchen, all with associated moods, feelings and emotions.
Memories triggered from childhood, positive or negative can be elicited from one inhale of a particular odorant molecule.
How powerful then are the botanicals in their effects on our psyche and our physical bodies. How elusive they are. How do we capture and preserve the essences for later use?
Choose wisely the botanicals you intend to use, the companies growing them, harvesting them, the extraction methods used...the bottling, packaging, transporting and selling of them. The difference in quality, function and cost of the end product can be quite significant.
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