香精油

An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants.香精油是一种浓缩的疏水性液体，其中含有来自植物的挥发性香气化合物。 They are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant material from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove.它们也被称为挥发性油或醚油，或简称为从中提取它们的植物材料的“油”，例如丁香油。 An oil is "essential" in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or essence, of the plant.从某种意义上说，油具有植物的独特香气或本质，因此它是“必需的”。 Essential oils do not as a group need to have any specific chemical properties in common, beyond conveying characteristic fragrances.除了传达特征性香料外，香精油不需要整体具有任何特定的化学特性。 They are not to be confused with essential fatty acids.请勿将它们与必需脂肪酸混淆。
Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation.香精油通常通过蒸馏提取。 Other processes include expression, or solvent extraction.其他过程包括表达或溶剂提取。 They are used in perfumes, cosmetics and bath products, for flavoring food and drink, and for scenting incense and household cleaning products.它们用于香水，化妆品和沐浴产品，为食品和饮料调味，以及熏香和家用清洁产品。
Various essential oils have been used medicinally at different periods in history.在历史的不同时期，已在医学上使用了各种精油。 Medical applications proposed by those who sell medicinal oils range from skin treatments to remedies for cancer, and are often based on historical use of these oils for these purposes.那些销售药用油的人提出的医学应用范围从皮肤治疗到癌症的治疗方法不一而足，并且通常基于这些油用于这些目的的历史使用。 Such claims are now subject to regulation in most countries, and have grown correspondingly more vague, to stay within these regulations.现在，此类索赔在大多数国家/地区都受到法规的约束，并且相应地变得更加模糊，以符合这些法规。
Interest in essential oils has revived in recent decades, with the popularity of aromatherapy, a branch of alternative medicine which claims that the specific aromas carried by essential oils have curative effects.近几十年来，随着芳香疗法的普及，对精油的兴趣恢复了，芳香疗法是替代医学的一个分支，该疗法声称精油携带的特定香气具有治疗作用。 Oils are volatilized or diluted in a carrier oil and used in massage, diffused in the air by a nebulizer or by heating over a candle flame, or burned as incense, for example.油会在载体油中挥发或稀释，然后用于按摩，通过雾化器或通过在烛火上加热而在空气中扩散或燃烧成香。