It is native to the mountanious regions in Europe and north and west Asia.
In India it is found in the hills of North eastern Himalayas.
It is extensively cultivated for its wood, tar, pitch, turpentine and was
used by the native Americans to prevent scurvy. Mattresses where stuffed
with the needles to repel lice and fleas and the ancient Egyptians used pine
kernels in their cooking.
Description of Pine essential oil:
This evergreen tree can grow up to 40 meters (130 feet) and has a flat
crown. The bark is a reddish-brown that is deeply fissured with needle-like
gray-green leaves that grow in pairs, orange-yellow flowers and pointed
brown cones. Pine Oil has an amazing fresh, sweet, balsamic aroma. Commonly
used as a decongestant, it is deemed to be valuable in steam inhalations for
the treatment of bronchial infections, colds, flu, catarrh, asthma and
sinuses.
Appearance : Transparent liquid
Aroma : Fresh, Sweet-resinous, Woody, Turpentine,
Coniferous, Balsamic
Color : Light yellow
Chemical constituents: Pine oil has various chemical
compounds that include borneol, bornyl acetate, phallandrene, pinene and
carene.
Extraction: Pine oil is obtained by the steam distillation
of pine needles, twigs and cones.
Aromatherapy uses:
It contains therapeutic properties like antimicrobial, antirheumatic,
antiseptic, antifungal, anti-viral, bactericidal-large spectrum, balsamic,
choleretic, deodorant, decongestant, diuretic, expectorant, hypertensive ,
antidiabetic, cortisone-like insecticidal, restorative, rubefacient,
sudorific and tonic-stimulant. Adrenal gland stimulant, analgesic,
antibacterial, antibiotic, antifungal, antiseptic, antiviral, arthritis,
asthma, bladder infections, bronchitis, catarrh, cholagogue, circulatory
stimulant, colds, convalescence, coughs, cuts, cystitis, decongestant,
deodorant, detoxifying, disinfectant, diuretic, eczema, expectorant,
fatigue, flu, gout, influenza, laryngitis, lice, muscular aches, neuralgia,
osteoarthritis, psoriasis, raises blood pressure, rheumatism, ringworm,
scabies, scrapes, sinusitis, sore throat and urinary infections.
Powerful antiseptic for respiratory tract, balsamic, rubefacient (rheumatic
complains.) influenza and all infections of respiratory tract.
Pharmaceutical uses:
Pine oil is most useful to relieve mental, physical and sexual fatigue,
while having a cleansing and invigorating effect on an area and is great for
vapor therapy in a sick room as it promotes healing. It can be used for cuts
and sores, scabies and lice and for excessive perspiration while its warming
properties help with rheumatism, arthritis, gout, muscular aches and pains
and it can stimulate circulation. Furthermore it can help in cases of
bronchitis, asthma, catarrh, coughs, laryngitis, colds and flu. It eases
breathlessness and sinusitis.
It has also been applied to eczema those with laryngitis, lice, muscular
aches, neuralgia, psoriasis, rheumatism, ringworm, scrapes and sinusitis.
Cosmetics and Toiletries:
Pine oil is used for cosmetics and toiletries. Pine oil is having a very
strong aroma and a little camphory balsamic, is used mainly in cosmetic
purposes like perfumery, soaps, shampoos, air fresheners, deodorants and
various types of creams. It is also used as solvent for specialty dyes.
Pine oil is used as an important ingredient in original pine
solution especially made for Pine-Sol® Brand Cleaner. It's the
pine oil that gives the product its amazing cleaning power. It cleans,
deodorizes and also disinfectants the home. It has also great aroma which
makes it more demanding. The oil is used to scent a number of household and
personal care products such as room sprays, detergents, vaporizer liquids,
cough and cold preparations and masculine perfumes.
Industrial uses:
Pine oil is used in various industrial purposes. It is used in coal
washeries, for recovery of copper lead, zinc in froth floatation process,
paper industry and textile industry. It is also used in making paint,
chemicals and varnish industry as an fixative.
Pine oil is used in froth floatation process.
All copper sulfide ores are concentrated using the froth floatation
process. Ground ore is mixed with xanthate reagents which consists of pine,
reacts with the copper sulfide mineral to make it hydrophobic in its
surface.
The sulfide ore is crushed and ground to increase the surface area of the
ore for subsequent processing. The powdered ore is mixed with pine oil (the
'collector chemical') and introduced to a water bath (aeration tank) and
pure ore is thereby collected.
Pine is exclusively used as an ingredient in aromatics, sanitary items and
mine dressing due to presence of terpineol content.
Pine oil can be made into pesticide for livestock. This
pesticide kills pests such as gadfly without stimulating animal body and
skin. It is used as adjuvant in textile printing and dyeing, advisable to
cotton, woolen, flax, silk and synthetic fiber.
Terpineol can be used to produce high quality printing dye leading
to evenly and firmly distributed colors with pleasing shines on the dyed
textiles.
The condensation between A-pinene and formaldehyde generates pinene-based
methanol (a mixture of monobasic alcohol and dibasic alcohol). It can be
changed into pinene-based methanol-low carbon acid ester (monobasic and
dibasic alcohol esters), which is of good compatibility with polyvinyl
chloride with no decompositions and coking in the processing and act as a
excellent
plasticizer.
Turpentine can be made into good heat-resistant lubricant suitable for jet
engine and cold-resistant lubricant (-70-80oC) suitable for the lubrication
of ordnances in cold areas. Warships of US Navy use terpineol in their
bottom paint to prevent parasitism of ocean organisms.It can be put as a
thin film of terpene resin on newly cast concrete that can shorten the
hardening time of it, thus construction quality is assured.
Pinane peroxide made from pine oil can be used as evoker for
synthetic rubber. Polyether foam, a new kind of insulator, is made
by reaction between pineonic acid-ethene ester.
Pine oil is a phenolic disinfectant. It is generally
effective against numerous bacterial strains and enveloped viruses. It is
not generally effective against non-enveloped viruses or spores.
Pine oil can be used as an automotive for running vehicles. It act as an
excellent lubricant.
An excellent raw material for the production
of high quality, specialty industrial chemicals such as dimer
acids, epoxidized tallate esters and fatty acid esters for cosmetic, polymer
and textile applications. Pine oil is used in applications where light color
and low rosin content are critical. It is an excellent raw material for
dimers, alkyds, and epoxidized tallate esters. It replaces oleic acid in
certain applications such as liquid soaps, fatty alcohols, amides, nitriles
and formulations where a low titer, unsaturated fatty acids are required.
Pine can be used as a synthetic resin since resin made
from turpentine include polymerized ¦Á-pinene resin, polymerized
¦Â-pinene, etc. Dipentene, which is a by-product of synthetic
camphor, is also an important raw material for terpene resin production.
Terpene resin is characterized by high viscosity, good insulation and
solubility. Combined with natural or synthetic rubber, it can increase the
viscosity of rubber and prevent rubber from aging. It may serve as
stabilizer of rubber. Regenerated rubber with terpene resin as an ingredient
has improved strength and other properties. In textile industry, terpene
resin can increase the fastness of rayon and make rayon water-proofed.
Terpene resin can substitute latex for the processing of textile with
similar effect. Terpene resin is also used on adhesive tape and adhesive
plaster, etc.
Food additive:
Pine nut: Pine seeds are popularly eaten as a roasted nut
form which is a a popular dried fruit. A pine tree yields 20 to 40 kilograms
of seeds which are roasted by mixing them in a special kind of soil in iron
containers placed over fire. The roasted nuts are sold at Rs1,500 per 40
kilograms.
