Sources and Characteristics
Although termed cedar or cedarwood oils, the most important oils of this group are produced from distilling wood of a number of different junipers and cypresses (Juniperus and Cupressus spp., of the family Cupressaceae), rather than true cedars (Cedrus spp., of the family Pinaceae). A cedar leaf oil is also commercially distilled from the Eastern arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis, also of the Cupressaceae), and similar oils are distilled, pressed or chemically extracted in small quantities from wood, roots and leaves from plants of the genera Platycladus, Cupressus, Taiwania and Calocedrus.
The cedar oil of the ancients, in particular the Sumerians and Egyptians, was derived from the Cedar of Lebanon, a true cedar native to the northern and western mountains of the Middle East. The once-mighty Cedar of Lebanon forests of antiquity have been almost entirely eradicated, and today no commercial oil extraction is based on this species. One of the elements found in many cedarwood trees is cedrol. Depending on the amount of cedrol in a specific species of cedarwood can determine its pesticidal effect on insects. Ancient Egyptians would use the oil from cedarwood trees in the embalming process, which in effect helped to keep the insects from disturbing the body.
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