Calamintha Oil

#### Calamintha Oil. An essential oil is steam distilled from the wild growing herb **Calamintha Clinopodium, **also known as Calamintha Nepeta. The oil is occasionally offered under the name of "**French**** ****Marjoram Oil" **or **Wild Basil Oil. **However, this oil has little or no importance beyond the above mentioned. It cannot be considered as a replacement for sweet marjoram oil in general. See monographs on Marjoram Sweet and Marjoram Wild. Numerous species of nepeta and similar Labiatae grow wild in the Mediterranean countries. The **Nepeta Cataria **is harvested for the production of essential oil in Yugoslavia. The oil is obtained by steam distillation of the flowering tops of the plant: The same plant has been introduced in the northern United States where the oil is distilled from fresh plant material for the purpose of preparing a wildcat lure. The oil is effective as an attractant for cats, pumas (American mountain lions) and other wild beasts. This essential oil is known as **Catnip Oil. **A lactone which is present at 3 to 5% in the oil, is known to be the active cat-attractant in the **Catnip Oil**. The oil contains furthermore between 80 and 90% of odorless substances. American catnip oil has found no use in perfumery. Its odor is almost pungent, intensely herbaceous, somewhat woody, but it also displays a rich, sweet-spicy undertone. The European (mainly Yugoslavian) **Nepeta Oil, **often called **Calamintha Oil, **may be distilled from a different species. Its odor seems to reveal a great variety of components, such as citral, nerol, citronellol, limonene, etc., often a typical "fresh" odor. Certain oils from Poland contain substantial amounts of citral. **Calamintha Oil **is mainly used in the various countries of origin and it has attained little importance elsewhere.