Lemon Oil Ingredients

Lemon oil has a variety of uses. It can be added to foods for flavoring, used in aromatherapy treatments, administered as an antiseptic agent to minor scrapes and blemishes or used as a natural, fresh-smelling cleaner, among other applications. Lemon oil is an essential oil comprised of a single ingredient, but there are several different types of lemon oil available.

Common Lemon Oil

• Lemon oil from the Citrus limon (L.) Burm tree, an Italian cultivar, is extracted from the peel of the fruit. The extraction process can occur in a variety of ways including hydrodistillation, steam distillation and hydrodiffusion (a variant of steam distillation), according to the Applied Essential Oil Research organization. This type of lemon oil is the most common lemon oil on the market. Characteristics include a light yellow coloring and pleasant lemon scent.

Green Lemon Oil

• The essential oil that makes up the less common green lemon oil comes from the Bolivian lemon tree. This lemon oil variety is richer than standard lemon oil and slightly green in color. It is often used to flavor specialty items such as olive oils for gourmet cooking.

Lemon Verbena Oil

• Lemon verbena oil is not derived from the citrus fruit but rather extracted from the leaves of the lemon verbena shrub, or Lippia citriodora Kunth, which grows in France. This oil has a lemony scent and is used almost exclusively as a fragrance, which has become increasingly common in boutique bath products. It is considerably more expensive than common lemon oil.

Lemon Tea Tree Oil

• Lemon tea tree oil is extracted from the leaves of the Australian lemon tea tree (Lippia citriodora Kunth). It, like lemon verbena oil, has a slightly lemony scent. Lemon tea tree oil is primarily used as a flavoring in teas and as a scent added to cleaning agents. It is related to the more common tea tree oil but not recommended for topical applications as it can be irritating to the skin.