Pine essential oil is derived from Pinus silvestris, a plant of the Pinaceae family. Known for its many properties, it has a toning, expectorant and antiseptic action, useful against stress, asthma and cystitis. Let's find out better.
Properties and benefits of pine essential oil
Toning, it helps you to feel efficient immediately upon awakening, indicated in cases of hypotension and heart failure. It is used to remove the sense of tiredness from fatigued or stressed people, in case of sleep disorders or nervous exhaustion. Because of this stimulating action, on the essential oil it can be helpful in treating impotence, frigidity, in the case of sexual disorders or decreased libido.
Expectorant, if inhaled, it thins the phlegm facilitating its elimination. It is therefore used in case of colds, sinusitis, flu, cough, laryngitis, acute and chronic bronchitis, in flu syndromes, asthma. The fresh and balsamic aroma helps purify the air in the rooms.
Antiseptic of the urinary tract: the essential oil of Scots pine, besides being a good diuretic, acts as an anti-inflammatory of the urogenital tracts, proving to be effective in cases of prostatitis, urethritis, cystitis and leucorrhoea. The external or internal use of this essential oil, thanks to its diuretic action, is beneficial in gout and rheumatism.
Description of the plant
The Scots pine is a large evergreen tree, originating both in Europe and northern Asia and can even reach forty meters in height. The evergreen leaves are needle-like, grouped in bunches, about 3-5 cm long (sometimes up to 10 cm), glaucous green, twisted and with brown sheaths at the base. The flowers form small sessile cones, pendulous, they produce reddish, globular and generally isolated cones, erect at the pollination, then hanging, which become strobili (pinecones). The fruits are the pine cones, oval, about 3-7 cm, with very short petiole; initially green, then dark gray-brown: they are found in pairs or in groups on the curved stems. Pine cones ripen and release seeds in three years.
Esseniziale pine oil among phytotherapy remedies for cough: discover the others
Part used
Pine cones, needles and twigs
Extraction method
Dry distillation.
Note pine essential oil
Base note: fresh, woody, earthy, balsamic fragrance
Practical advice and use of essential pine oil
Environmental diffusion : 1 gc for every square meter of the environment in which it is diffused, through essential oil burner, or in the radiators humidifiers, to purify fli environments.
Suffumigi : against colds in a basin of boiling water put 15 drops of pine essential oil, cover the head with a towel and inhale with the nose deeply. Briefly interrupt from time to time and continue inhaling until the water releases steam.
Internal use : 2 drops of essential pine oil in a teaspoon of honey, 3 times a day after main meals, against water retention, urinary tract infections and rheumatism.
Contraindications of pine essential oil
Pine essential oil is contraindicated during pregnancy and at high doses can irritate the mucous membranes. Applied externally at high concentrations, it can cause sensitization effects.
It is advisable to avoid external use if skin irritations are present . As with any other essential oil, even for that of sylvan pine we recommend consulting a herbalist before using it, so as to fully and safely exploit the many benefits
Background
Among the Assyrians he was considered the "guardian of life".
Pine has always been considered a symbol of virility and tree of life, so much so that in Greek mythology, the pine is none other than Attis, the eunuch servant who leads the chariot of the goddess Cybele and transformed by Zeus into this tree in honor of the his sacrifice. According to the myth, Attis was a hunting companion and lover of Agdistis, a bisexual demon born from the union of Zeus and Cybele.
The king of Pessinunte, Mida, wanted to marry Attis with his daughter, so that she could become civilized. During the wedding feast, Agdistis in love and betrayed by the young man, out of revenge, drove him mad, causing him to flee to the mountains, where the man cut his genitals under a pine tree. Some variants say that Attis was then resurrected or otherwise was rescued by Cybele who grabbed him by the hair and turned him into this tree as soon as he touched the ground.
In ancient times, pine needles were used by the American Indians to fill mattresses to keep fleas and insects away.
From the resin that tends to form on the trunk, the essence of turpentine is extracted by steam distillation, a clear, amber liquid with a strong odor and an acrid, bitter taste, used for centuries for numerous therapeutic indications, including bronchitis, rheumatism and skin diseases.
