Hele, a veteran
harvester from Egypt, starts
her harvest with a headlamp
and basket at 2:30 am.
Changing Lives
one flower at a time
NEROLI ESSENTIAL OIL
Neroli, the flower from the bitter orange tree, was introduced
into Egypt by the Arabs in 642 AD. Egyptian Neroli remains
virtually untouched, unlike most orange trees across the
world that have been altered by mix breeding. At the end of
the 17th century, Anne Marie Orsini, Duchess of Bracciano
and princess of Nerola, Italy, was said to be so fascinated
with orange flower essence that s he would bathe in it. She
spread the practice to those around her, thus giving her
name to the orange flower essence: Neroli.
The Bitter Orange Tree is able to produce three different oils.
Neroli comes from the flower of the tree. Petitgrain comes
from the leaf and twig of the tree. Lastly, orange comes from
the rind of the orange fruit. However, dōTERRA Wild Orange
is sourced from the sweet orange fruit. Producers can only
choose one oil to cultivate because harvesting one will make
it impossible for the other parts of the tree to mature. The
Neroli flower only has a small window for harvest—from
mid-March to the end of April.
JASMINE ABSOLUTE
Jasmine is a species of more than 200 flowering vines and
shrubs of the Oleaceae family. Known throughout history
for its floral scent, Jasmine has been revered in countries
such as China, Japan, and all throughout Southeast Asia.
Pakistan has even designated Jasmine as its national flower.
Jasmine differs from other oils because it is an absolute,
which means the oil is extracted using a unique method.
An absolute goes through a sophisticated process of
separating the paraffins and waxes from the volatiles.
This process allows for more of the aromatic compounds
to be present in the absolute, resulting in an exquisite,
yet potent final product. Due to the fragile nature of the
Jasmine flower, steam distillation is too strenuous and
will not produce the right compounds that we look for.
H A RV E ST I N G F LOW E R S
What do Jasmine and Neroli have in common? They are both
cultivated in Egypt. It takes 1 ton of Jasmine flowers to
produce 3 pounds of jasmine absolute—that’s approximately
6,000,000 flowers. Jasmine and Neroli flowers are not picked
by machines, but rather by hand, one by one. This goes to show
how much time and effort goes into producing such beautiful
oils. Each individual flower is not only changing the lives of those
using them, but changing the lives of those harvesting them.
Hele, a veteran harvester from Egypt, started out like many
other harvesters, trying to earn money for her family.
Beginning her day at 2:30 am, Hele starts her harvest with a
headlamp, basket, and her fingers. Each day the harvesters
are only allotted a certain amount of bushes to pick in order
16 / WINTER 2018 LIVING MAGAZINE
to prolong the life of the plant. Hele has been doing this for
10 years, getting faster and faster with time. Her speed has
made it possible for her to get to other jobs and back to her
family much quicker.
When asked about her job, Hele says it is a great time to
socialize with her friends. Many of the other harvesters are
women in similar circumstances. This makes it more
enjoyable and the time goes by much faster. Payments are
fair and on time. In fact, the harvesters get to watch their
loads get weighed to make sure the amount is correct. Hele
may be just one harvester in Egypt, but her hard work in
picking the flowers one by one makes it possible for us to
enjoy the numerous benefits of Jasmine and Neroli.
doterra.com / 17