Daucus carota Macerated Oil
I have often wondered about how carrot was macerated and so decided to try to make it myself from vegetable to macerated oil. The journey has taken months, a bit of research, several batches of carrots, patience and lots of eager anticipation. Still there is another method I shall be working with in the next week too. So truly the process continues.
What’s in a carrot?
The macerated carrot oil is derived from the species of cultivated carrot, Daucus carota supsp. sativa that bears the edible root we are all so familiar with.
What’s the difference between Carrot infused oil and Carrot Essential Oil?
Wild carrots, also called Queen Anne’s Lace, is Daucus carota are the same species as the cultivated carrot and are differentiated only in the subspecies. Wild carrots have white roots and are smaller than the orange edible roots of cultivated carrot. The root of the wild carrot (Daucus carota subsp. carota) is generally considered to be inedible. It is the root of the cultivated carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativa) that bears the edible orange carrot. “However, since the bulk of essential oil commercially available is obtained from the seeds of the commercially cultivated carrot, the name Daucus carota alone signifies, that the source is the cultivated carrot.”
Daucus carota
Carrot essential oil is rich in the sesquiterpene alcohol, caratol (upwards of 70% in subsp. carota) although the chemistry can vary quite considerably between subspecies and location grown. The essential oil is renowned for its cell regenerative properties and is used extensively in regenerative skin care, post surgical wound healing, dry skin, and for eczema.
Making carrot macerated oil
An important starting point is to recognize that carrots hold between 90-92% water. And since water and oil do not mix and water is a source of potential bacterial growth, it is important to dehydrate or dry the carrots prior to infusing. You could technically get a wet weight and then a dry weight and use a more ayurvedic approach to macerate the oil and evaporate off all the water, but that is for another time.
For our infusion here we purchased organic fresh carrots from the Carrboro farmers market.
Fresh carrots
Next step, process and dry the carrots.
After peeling the carrots (you don’t have to peel them) and cutting them into thin slices, I placed the carrots onto a tray and put them in our oven to dry. I did this in our stove (as we don’t have a dehydrator). The lowest setting on our stove is 160 degrees so I set it at that. It took about 9-12 hours for the carrots to be completely dried. So perhaps not the most economical way to dry carrots but it worked. If you have a dehydrator, use that to remove the water content from the carrots.
Prepare Maceration
Once dried, I placed the carrots into the Vitamixer then covered the carrots with virgin organic olive oil. This was then mixed for a minute or two. (the vitamix did not powder it down) so probably won’t do this next time….Then I placed this mix into a clean (sanitized) canning jar. Note: Most companies seem to use sunflower oil and even sesame oil. Shall have to try the sesame oil.
Allow the carrots to infuse in the oil for about 4 weeks. Here is a picture of the macerated oil I recently purchased from Florihana in France. The oil, needless to say, is exquisite.
About Carrot: Daucus carota subsp. sativus macerated oil
This is from our program, Botanical Body Care Products Online Certification Course
Other common names: Common cultivated carrot
Botanical family: Apiaceae
Botanical description: Carrot is an annual or biennial plant widely cultivated all over Europe, the USA and Central Asia. The orange-red taproot of Daucus carota subsp. sativus is the well known edible carrot. The essential oil, on the other-hand, is extracted from the species Daucus carota subsp. carota. The herbal oil is extracted from the edible fruit.
Part of Plant Used: Carrot roots
Harvest Time: Harvest when carrot root is ripe.
Active components: Carrot herbal oil is rich in the fat soluble β-carotene which is the most well-known provitamin A carotenoid . β-carotene is the component responsible for giving Carrot infused oil its rich red/orange color as well as its therapeutic benefits.
Therapeutic benefits:
Beta carotene is the precursor for the provitamin A. Vitamin A is essential for the skin and promotes healthy tissue formation as well as protects the skin from ultra-violet radiation. beta-carotene also exhibits antioxidant activity.
Carrot herbal oil is indicated for:
- Wound healing
- Burns
- Mature/aging skin
- Impetigo
- Dermatitis, eczema o Improve appearance of scar tissue
- Dry skin
- Rashes, itching
Thus concludes our current journey in making Macerated Carrot oil. I would truly love to hear from you about your experiences and insights into making this incredible oil. Please feel free to share here or send me an email at: info@aromaticstudies.com
Ready to use your homemade carrot infused oil? Consider making Carrot Rosehip Skin Salve.
Om.
