Sweet Almond
Is here a difference between almond oil and sweet almond oil?
Today I bought a tea tree oil which says it needs to be 'diluted with sweet almond oil or something similar'. I have found almond oil in the cupboard bit not sweet almond oil, is there a difference? Also, what is a similar oil to sweet almon oil????
It isn't that one has more sugar added (who adds sugar to oil), it's that one comes from the bitter almond, and one comes from the sweet almond. There are two forms of the plant, one (often with white flowers) producing sweet almonds, and the other (often with pink flowers) producing bitter almonds. The kernel of the former contains a fixed oil and emulsion. As late as the early 20th century the oil was used internally in medicine, with the stipulation that it must not be adulterated with that of the bitter almond; it remains fairly popular in alternative medicine, particularly as a carrier oil in aromatherapy, but has fallen out of prescription among doctors. The bitter almond is rather broader and shorter than the sweet almond, and contains about 50% of the fixed oil which also occurs in sweet almonds. It also contains the enzyme emulsin which, in the presence of water, acts on a soluble glucoside, amygdalin, yielding glucose, cyanide and the essential oil of bitter almonds, which is nearly pure benzaldehyde. Bitter almonds may yield from 4–9 mg of hydrogen cyanide per almond. Extract of bitter almond was once used medicinally, but even in small doses effects are severe and in larger doses can be deadly; the cyanide must be removed before consumption.
| No items matching your keywords were found. |