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Pure Sandalwood Oil
Now a days, Pure Sandalwood Oil is very hard to find and searching of the producer, very typical task.
Extraction Method of Pure Sandalwood Oil
The heartwood is the most precious part of the tree, with the heartwood that comes from the roots being the best. Sapwood yields a lower quality oil. Older trees have more heartwood, and so are more highly prized. For each  extraction method, the quality of the final sandalwood oil will depend upon the wood that was utilized and on the length of distillation time, and experience of the distiller. These days, sandalwood essential oil is extracted primarily by steam distillation, where super heated steam is passed through the powdered wood. The steam helps to release and then carries away the essential oil which is locked in the cellular structure of the wood. The steam is then cooled and the result is sandalwood hydrosol and sandalwood essential oil which floats on the hydrosol and is separated and further refined and filtered.
Hydrodistillation is the traditional method of extraction. It is fairly rare these days, yet it is said that this method yields an oil with a superior aroma. Instead of having steam pass through the powdered wood, in a hydrodistiller the powder is allowed to soak in water. A fire from below the vessel then heats the water and carries off the steam which is allowed to cool. The pure sandalwood oil is then removed from the top of the hydrosol.
The sandalwood CO2 extraction method is a new technique for extracting essential oils (and other constituents) from plant materials. It does not use water or steam. Instead CO2 (carbon dioxide) is used as a solvent. The CO2 is used under high pressure in which it expresses a likeness to both a gas and a liquid (called a supercritical state). (click here for more information of CO2 extraction). These qualities allow the aromatic constituents of sandalwood to be extracted without heat. The CO2 is then removed from the resulting extract which is then refined and filtered. The oil produced from this method has a different look and feel, as well as odor profile than the sandalwood oil obtained by steam or hydrodistillation.
CO2 extracted sandalwood oil is more viscous and darker in color (it is a beautiful golden color) than the steam distilled sandalwood oil. The CO2 extracted sandalwood oil is more resinous and deeper in the woody characteristics. It is not as sweet smelling as the steamed distilled oil and slightly less spicy.
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