Herbaceous hybrid plant that is a cross between lavender and spike
lavender. It grows in several varieties, a few of which resemble
lavender, while others resemble spike lavender.
Originally the plant grew wild as the result of natural cross-polli nation. Today lavandin is cultivated almost exclusively in southern
France (Var, Vaucluse, and Drome). Lavandin production from
other Mediterranean countries (Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain) is very
limited compared to French production.
In the past, distillation of lavandin yielded a typical essential oil,
the so-called normal type. Through the careful selection of lavan din strains having a high ester content, new varieties of lavandin
and, therefore, lavandin essential oils with different characteristics
have become available. The variety lavandin abrial has attained
great importance in recent years. "Ordinary" or "normal" lavandin
oil has an ester content (linalyl acetate) ranging on the average
between 20 and 22%; lavandin abrial oil has an average ester
content of 30 to 32%. Lavandin oil exhibits 1:1 to 1:2 solubility
in 65% ethanol. The solubility of essential oils from the same
growing site has decreased slightly in the past few years, probably
because of a morphological evolution of the plant.
The part used is the flowering herb. Lavandin has a camphora ceous, fresh, herbaceous odor reminiscent of lavender.
There are two essential oils: lavandin oil and lavandin abrial oil.
Lavandin Oil: Obtained by steam distillation of the flowering
stalks, lavandin oil is a pale-yellow to yellow liquid with a strong,
lavender-like, but more pronounced camphoraceous odor.
Lavandin Abrial 00: Also obtained by steam distillation of the
plant material in much higher yields, lavandin abrial oil is a pale yellow to yellow liquid. The odor of this oil is more earthy and
camphoraceous than lavandin oil and also is reminiscent of lav ender.
Terpeneless essential oils with an odor very similar to lavender
are also produced by careful vacuum distillation to remove cam phor and cineol. The main constituents of lavandin include lina lool, linalyl acetate, camphor, cineol, borneol, terpenes, and
ethylamyl ketone. The terpene fraction (approximately 7%) con tains pinene, camphene, limonene, and dipentene.
