Spruce Oil

#### Spruce Oils. Under the name of **Spruce**** ****Oil**** **or **Hemlock**** ****Spruce**** ****Oil**** **an essential oil is marketed in the United States of America. The oil is usually derived from several different botanical sources. It is steam distilled from the leaves (needles) and twigs of **Tsuga Canadensis**, also known as the **"Eastern**** ****Hemlock" **since it grows all along the east coast of the U. S. A. Other sources of spruce oil are: **Picea**** ****Mariana**, the "**Black**** ****Spruce**" in the northern United States and, to a smaller degree, ##### Picea Alba and **Tsuga**** ****Heterophylla**, the latter yielding an oil which is substantially different from the three others. **Spruce**** ****Oil**** **is distilled in the eastern U.S.A., particularly in the states of Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Virginia and in the midwestern state of Wisconsin. The oil is pale yellow or almost colorless, and has a very pleasant, balsamic-fresh odor with a peculiar sweet-oily and slightly fruity undertone. The odor characteristics can vary significantly, according to the origin of the oil and to the nature of the botanical species used. **Spruce Oil **is used extensively in the U. S. A. for room spray perfumes, bath preparations, air fresheners, disinfectants, in liquid detergents, cleansers and other household products, etc., and it finds a natural application in "pine" fragrances, not only because of the previous shortage of "true" Siberian pine needle oil, but also because of the excellent individual performance of spruce oil in "fresh" perfume types. It blends excellently with all pine needle oils, with oakmoss products, isobornylacetate, terpineol, cedarwood oils and their derivatives, coumarin, galbanum products, benzoin resinoids, lavandin oil and lavandin concrète, amyl salicylate, rosemary oil, etc. Spruce oil is fairly stable in soap, and it can be used in "pine" type fragrances for soaps, detergents and all kinds of household products where this fragrance seems to be generally accepted. Although the oil is produced regularly on a fairly large scale, it is not available in quantities that would allow for a liberal use in the everyday household products. This application could easily result in a demand which would far exceed the 15 to *50 *metric tons of annual production of the spruce oils. See also **Abies**** **oils and **Picea**** ****Excelsa**** ****Oil**.