The secret of pepper oil production

In one of our recent posts, we revealed to you the mysterious pepper oil from Kampot pepper and looked into its health effects. This time, it will also be about this oil, but we will look at it from the perspective of production.

Extracting the essence by distillation

Black pepper oil from black pepper can be obtained either directly from crushed peppercorns, or it can be extracted from the pepper vines on which the peppercorns grow. In both cases, the key to obtaining the essential oil is the distillation process.

Specifically, it is steam distillation, where steam under high pressure is filtered through organic material—in this case, parts of the pepper vine plant or directly the peppercorns. The oil is then separated from the water and bottled.

The yield ranges between 1 and 4% of the total biomass volume. This is also why it is a relatively expensive product. The good news is that due to the high concentration of substances contained in pepper, only a few drops are enough for most uses.

Easily soften the concentrated strength

For some, however, this oil may be too strong. In such cases, it can be combined with other oils. It pairs very well with citrus oils and oils from flower petals. Suitable examples are orange, grapefruit, lemon, or bergamot, or lavender. Due to its pungency, you can also try combining it with essential oils of eucalyptus or tea tree.

Try creating a blend of 20 ml sunflower or calendula oil, 10 ml St. John's wort oil, 1 drop of black pepper essential oil, and several drops of ginger and lemon essential oils. You will obtain a perfectly fragrant bomb that you can use for muscle stiffness and a whole range of other ailments, which you can read about in our articles.