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Forgotten and ignored for many years, aromatic essences are coming back into their own, for many researchers and for a wide section of public opinion, as the stars of medicine. Faced with a mounting toll of complications known to have been caused by aggressively synthesized chemical medications, many patients are now unwilling to be treated except by natural therapies, foremost among which plants and essences have their rightful place.¹

The resurgence of interest in aromatherapy, medical herbalism and other natural therapies over the last few decades bears witness to the opening words of Dr Valnet’s pioneering book The Practice of Aromatherapy, first published in France in 1964. In it, he advocates the re–evaluation of plant medicines using modern research techniques and cites many clinical tests which confirm ‘the validity of traditional ideas based on practical experience’.²

In the past, when the chemical composition of essential oils was still a mystery, aromatic oils were used successfully to combat all types of infectious disease. Such knowledge was based on the vast accumulation of empirical evidence gathered over centuries of experimentation. In Europe during the Great Plague of 1665, for example, rosemary was burned in public places to help contain the epidemic, and was carried in special pouches or compartments inside walking sticks as protection while passing through infected areas.

Recent research has shown that rosemary is in fact one of the most potent antiseptic and prophylactic agents available. As early as the 1920s, René Gattefossé, the French chemist who first coined the term ‘aromatherapie’, had noted the powerful bactericidal properties of rosemary in his own clinical research based on a detailed chemical analysis of the oil:

The essences of rosemary, sage, pine and fir contain borneol and its esters. This is what gives them their strong antiseptic qualities and accounts for their medicinal applications. Essence of rosemary is considered a beneficial stomachic against atopic dyspepsia. The leaf infusion is stimulating and has yielded excellent results for some feverish conditions causing temporary but worrying prostration.

He continues:

Cazin obtained marvellous results for pernicious bouts of malaria. Brissemoret, in his ‘Essais sur les preparations galeniques’, lists it as a stimulant and tonic because of the presence of borneol, along with camphor, cineol, pinene and camphene. It is a vermifuge and an emmenagogue.³

Gattefossé had not been the first to draw conclusions about the therapeutic potential of an essential oil by examining its chemical composition. A wealth of research had already been carried out during the previous 50 years by Calvello (1902), Marx (1903), Kobert (1906) and Clavel (1918), to name but a few.⁴ However, as a chemist with a specialist interest in aromatics Gattefossé did make a substantial contribution to this field, which later proved an inspiration to Dr Valnet.

Through his work as a doctor and surgeon during the Second World War, Valnet had become especially interested in the antiseptic properties of essential oils and their ability to inhibit the spread of infection. He introduced the use of natural aromatics into his clinical practice with very successful results. In 1958 Dr Valnet wrote: ‘…we learned that vapours derived from aromatic plants possess antiseptic properties which inhibit the development of certain staphylococci and coliform bacilli. These plants include (in descending order of potency) thyme, rosemary, eucalyptus, peppermint, orange blossom… etc.’⁵

To study the suppression of germs by aromatic oils with greater precision, Valnet and his colleagues formulated a laboratory technique called the ‘aromatogram’. This method, which involved testing specific oils on cultured bacteria in vitro, was used not only to ascertain the minimum effective dosage of various oils but also to find which one was best suited to treating a particular infection. One of the intriguing aspects of this programme was that patients responded to different oils even if suffering from the same infection! This is because, unlike antibiotics (which kill germs and healthy bacteria alike), essential oils support the body’s own defence system by creating a healthy environment in which the pathogens are unable to survive – according to the needs of each individual case.

In 1978, Valnet and his colleagues employed the ‘aromatogram’ to carry out 268 test cases, using a variety of oils including rosemary. Several bacteria and fungi were tested, including Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Proteus mirabilis, Strep. faecalis and Candida albicans. Although rosemary proved to be 1.48 times more effective than antibiotics in vitro against the above organisms, it was not as successful as some oils, such as origanum, cinnamon, thyme or savory at combating both bacterial and fungicidal germs. Subsequent research carried out during the 1970s, eighties and early nineties has in fact confirmed that, although rosemary is effective against a wide range of bacteria, its fungicidal action is more variable:

 1974: Opdyke – Rosemary was shown to have good antimicrobial properties in a series of tests against bacteria and fungi.6

 1976: Bardeau – Several vaporized oils were tested for their capacity to destroy a range of bacteria including Proteus, Staph, aureus and Strep. pyogenes. Rosemary was found to be one of the most effective essences (together with lavender, thyme, pine, marjoram and clove), and thus was found suitable for the treatment of infections such as the common cold and bronchitis.7

 1987: Deans and Richie – rosemary was tested against 25 types of bacteria, and found effective against 21 varieties.8

 1984: Benjilali et al. – rosemary and eucalyptus were demonstrated to be less effective than thyme and three artemisia oils at inhibiting 39 fungi.9

 1993: Biondii et al. – 22 oils, including rosemary, were tested against seven bacteria. Rosemary was not among the top oils but it was noted that ‘other studies gave conflicting results, and this was due to the compositional differences of the oils dependent on their source.’10

 1994: Pandit and Shelef – Eighteen spices were screened for anti-listerial properties. Only rosemary and cloves were found to be listericidal.11