Rosemary Essential Oil
Rosemary essential oil is the steam-distilled volatile oil of the leaves and flowering tops of Rosmarinus officinalis, now formally reclassified as Salvia rosmarinus. It is a clear, colourless to pale yellow mobile liquid with a fresh, penetrating camphoraceous and herbaceous odour and a woody-balsamic drydown.
The oil is dominated by monoterpenes and monoterpene ketones, chiefly 1,8-cineole, camphor, alpha-pinene, camphene, borneol, bornyl acetate and verbenone. Commercial material is traded by chemotype, since the ratio of these components shifts markedly with origin and determines whether an oil reads as clean and eucalyptus-like or as heavy and camphoraceous.
The distilled oil should not be confused with rosemary extract, the deodorised antioxidant preparation built on carnosic acid and carnosol. Those diterpene phenols are non-volatile and do not carry over in steam distillation, so the essential oil is an aroma material and contributes no meaningful oxidative protection to a fat phase. The oil is soluble in ethanol and edible oils, insoluble in water, and is stored cool and dark because the pinenes oxidise readily.
We source bulk Rosemary Essential Oil from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturers are in Guangdong and Henan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Clear colourless to pale yellow mobile liquid |
| Odour | Fresh camphoraceous herbaceous, characteristic of rosemary |
| Relative Density (20°C) | 0.895 to 0.920 |
| Refractive Index (20°C) | 1.464 to 1.473 |
| Optical Rotation (20°C) | -5° to +8° |
| 1,8-Cineole | 38.0 to 55.0 percent by GC, cineole chemotype |
| Camphor | 5.0 to 15.0 percent by GC |
| Alpha-Pinene | 9.0 to 14.0 percent by GC |
| Solubility | Clearly soluble in 2 volumes of 80 percent ethanol |
| Acid Value | Not more than 1.0 mg KOH/g |
| Heavy Metals (as Pb) | Not more than 10 mg/kg |
| Lead | Not more than 2 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | Not more than 1 mg/kg |
Common Markets Grades
Three chemotypes carry most of the trade. The cineole chemotype, associated with Tunisian and Moroccan material, runs high in 1,8-cineole and is the standard grade for food flavouring and for household and soap fragrance. The camphor and borneol chemotype, typical of Spanish material, is heavier and more medicinal and is used where a sharp herbal note is wanted. The verbenone chemotype, largely from Corsica and southern France, is lower in cineole, softer, and moves mainly into aromatherapy and cosmetics at higher value and lower volume.
Within each chemotype, oils are bought against a gas chromatography window for cineole, camphor and alpha-pinene rather than a single assay. Rectified grades are redistilled under vacuum to lighten colour and strip heavy tails, terpeneless grades are concentrated for beverage and clear-solution work, and organic certified lots are segregated from field through distillation. Flavour houses take standardised dilutions in propylene glycol or triethyl citrate for dosing.
Applications
- Meat seasoning and marinades for sausage, roast poultry and lamb, where the cineole note carries through cooking
- Compound spice blends and rubs, added on a carrier to hold the volatile fraction
- Savoury snack seasoning, applied through an oil slurry during tumbling
- Bakery products such as focaccia and savoury crackers, dosed at low parts per million
- Soups, stocks and gravy bases, restoring the top note lost during long cooking
- Flavoured olive oils and dressings, blended directly into the oil phase
- Herbal and botanical beverages and bitters, using ethanol solutions or terpeneless fractions
- Soap, shower gel and shampoo perfuming in the fresh herbal accord
- Aromatherapy and massage blends at low dilution in carrier oil
- Household cleaners, air fresheners and candles
Brands Using Rosemary Essential Oil
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Rosemary Essential Oil on the ingredient label.
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Rosemary Essential Oil
Top Rosemary Essential Oil manufacturers in China.
Guangzhou Honsea Sunshine Biotech Co., Ltd.20 ingredients in the directory- Henan Jianyuan Rosemary Products Co., Ltd.7 ingredients in the directory
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States 21 CFR 182.20 lists rosemary among the essential oils, oleoresins and natural extractives generally recognised as safe for their intended use in food, and the oil also holds FEMA GRAS status as a flavouring substance. The separate antioxidant material, rosemary extract, is handled under its own GRAS determinations and should not be substituted for the essential oil in a fat protection role.
In the European Union rosemary essential oil is treated as a natural flavouring preparation under Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 and carries no E number. The distinct deodorised antioxidant preparation, extracts of rosemary, is authorised as a food additive with the number E392, and the two must be kept clearly apart in labelling and specification. Rosemary oil is the subject of a European Pharmacopoeia monograph, and pharmacopoeial grade material is tested against the composition limits set there. Cosmetic and household use is governed by the IFRA standards and by EU allergen declaration requirements for constituents such as limonene and linalool.
Manufacturing Process
Leafy shoots and flowering tops are cut mechanically or by hand, usually just before or during flowering when oil content peaks, and are field wilted briefly to shed water before distillation. Fresh or partly wilted herb is packed into stainless steel vessels, in many producing regions the same mobile vessels used for lavender, and steam is passed through the bed at low pressure for one and a half to three hours. Distilling fresh rather than fully dried herb gives a fresher profile, since the lighter pinenes are lost on prolonged drying.
The vapour is condensed and the oil separates from the aqueous distillate in a Florentine flask, floating above the water. Distillation water is normally returned to the boiler to recover dissolved oxygenated components. The crude oil is decanted, dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate, allowed to settle, and polish filtered. Lots are analysed by gas chromatography and blended to a fixed chemotype profile. Rectified and terpeneless grades are produced by a further fractional distillation under reduced pressure. Yield runs roughly 0.5 to 1.5 percent on fresh herb.
