The Plants Behind Your Favorite Essential Oils – Wild Sourcing vs. Propagation

Demand for your favorite essential oils is on the rise with applications in everything from cleaning supplies and cosmetics to health and wellness.

Researchers predict that the global market will surpass $11 million by 2022, and more than 220 kiloton of essential oil was demanded in 2018 alone.

As demand increases, more companies are developing their own lines of essential oils.

If you assume that means they’re sending teams out into the wild to source the healthiest, most potent plants to create those oils, you’re incorrect.

While some of the most aromatic essential oils are derived from plants grown in their natural environments, the essential oil market is saturated with low-quality oils created from propagated plants that have never touched soil in their ideal native environments.

In fact, profit-focused essential oil manufacturers now use a variety of tricks to make more money, including:

  • Blending pure essential oils with cheaper oils to lower production costs
  • Selling cheap oils mislabeled as more expensive oils
  • Creating synthetic oils that don’t come from Mother Nature at all

Once you eliminate the dishonest products and start looking at high-quality, pure essential oils, you should consider the source of the plants used to make those oils.

This is one final distinction that may help you source the purest oils that offer the most rewarding benefits.

Propagation vs. Wild Plant Sourcing – What’s the Difference?

Plants naturally grow in select areas of the world. They develop their aromas and medicinal qualities by interacting with the soil, insects and other plants in their natural environments.

That’s why one essential oil may grow best in the desert while another needs a rainforest.

When a plant is allowed to grow wild, you’re certain to receive the maximum benefits when it’s processed for essential oils.

Since essential oils are now big business, they’re often created with profit in mind rather than purity.

Instead of sourcing wild plants from their natural environments, many manufacturers take cuttings or seeds from wild plants and propagate thousands of plants with farming methods.

These plants aren’t grown in the wild and don’t interact with fauna that are only found in wild environments.

When researchers analyzed your favorite essential oils derived from wild and micro-propagated Damiana plants, they found clear differences in the oils.

The micro-propagated plants produced oils that were more uniform, and that’s another reason many manufacturers prefer to propagate than to gather plants from the wild.

Unfortunately, the essential oils may lose some of their natural properties when deprived of their natural environments.

You may pay more for our favorite essential oils sourced from the wild, but you may also receive benefits that aren’t available from oils derived from propagated plants.

Going wild is your opportunity to take full advantage of the most powerful elements of your essential oils.

The Origins of Your Favorite Essential Oils

The Plants Behind Your Favorite Essential Oils

Are you wondering where the plants used to create your essential oils came from?

If your favorite essential oils were created from wild-growing plants, they were sourced from select areas of the world.

Further, they were likely collected during specific months of the year in order to maximize the potency of the aroma and other beneficial compounds.

Take a look at the origins of some popular favorite essential oils that you may use regularly:

  • Lavender Essential Oil – You can find propagated lavender plants growing in gardens throughout the world, but their wild habitats are found in India, Africa, Europe, Arabia and the Mediterranean. The Lavandula plant family contains a variety of lavender plants, but Lavandula angustifolia is commonly used for essential oil production because it has extremely fragrant flowers.
  • Jojoba Essential Oil – Jojoba comes from the Simmondsia chinensis plant, which grows naturally in the Sonoran Desert. The desert is located in southern California and Arizona in the United States and stretches into parts of Mexico. Jojoba essential oil protects and nourishes the skin and hair. It can treat everything from chapped lips to sunburns.
  • Frankincense Essential Oil – This oil is derived from the Boswellia tree, which grows in wild Arabian and African environments. The Boswellia species most commonly used to create frankincense are commonly found in Somalia, Yemen and Oman. You can use this oil to boost your immune system and combat stress, anxiety and inflammation.
  • Tea Tree Essential Oil – This is one of the most widely used essential oils today. It’s derived from the Melaleuca alternifolia plant that grows wild in Australia. The oil is mostly used for its antimicrobial properties.
  • Rosemary Essential Oil – Rosemary comes from the herb Rosmarinus officinalis. It’s native to the Mediterranean but is now cultivated widely throughout the world. There are many ways to use this oil, including as a detox agent, stress reliever and immune system booster.

As you explore new essential oils, think about the plants behind the oil. As you become more discerning about your oils, you may notice an improvement in quality with fewer imposters making their way into your home.

Where to buy wild essential oils

https://www.anandaapothecary.com/

The Ananda Apothecary purchases their wild crafted essential oils from farmers and distillers who work on smaller batches and harvests to produce the very best and purest oils from their native and natural habitats. 

These are more potent and effective oils than most farm raised oils. Ananda also sells these wild oils as a direct distributor (no middle man) bringing you the best price available.

On The Ananda Apothecary website you can see under each oil, which country they are coming from. 

For example Frankincense (carteri) essential oil will come from Somalia, Lavender will come from Bulgaria, etc.

These oils are high grade, pure and potent.  The Ananda brand essential oils are USDA and Ecocert ICO certified. 

You can buy organic essential oils, herbs and spices on their website as well.

The Ananda brand carries Melissa essential oil from Germany - a great oil for stress and anxiety. 

The Ananda brand also carries CO2 essential oils. These are processed using low (instead of high) temperatures which preserves more of the good stuff in the oil and making it even more pure and potent then ever. 

The Ananda Apothecary brand also has special aged essential oils including ancient aged frankincense (a hot seller). 

This is possible because Ananda has a chemist who created a certifiably - organic process which ages oils in a few weeks that would normally take years. 

This creates higher regenerative components and higher curumenes (anti-inflammatory component). The oils smell fantastic and ad a whole new level of benefits! 


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