Distributors and staff at the Master Distributor Retreat in June enjoyed harvesting ylang ylang flowers on the YL farm in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Ylang ylang means “flower of flowers” and was named such because the tree has beautiful, fragrant flowers, from which a powerful essential oil is steam distilled.

The oil is used in hair formulas, to balance female-male energies, to restore peace and positive thoughts, and as an aphrodisiac. It is also used for supporting normal blood pressures, easing minor motion sickness, and contains a host of other health-enhancing properties.

Ylang ylang originates from Madagascar and is being grown on the Young Living farm in Guayaquil, Ecuador. In the Young Living ylang ylang groves, it’s harvest time again, although the main production time for ylang ylang runs from February to May.

During the recent Master Leader Retreat in June, distributors had the opportunity to harvest ylang ylang flowers and plant new trees. They thoroughly enjoyed learning how to correctly harvest the flowers for the greatest yield and highest therapeutic value.

They learned that just as the monsoon rains start to end, the trees load up with water from the rain and put on flowers. The flowers then become very heavily laden with the water, which increases the glucose, or what we call the Brix, in the flower; and that all converts to essential oil, which is very exciting.

Because of the beautiful fragrance, we have ylang ylang trees around our house and have our windows open at night to let in the breeze. On the farm a gentle breeze blows most of the time, and it’s most refreshing. It keeps the air clean and helps to move out the mosquitos during mosquito time.

But at night when it’s cool and that breeze blows in through the windows, the whole house fills with the fragrance of the ylang ylang flower, because the ylang ylang tree produces the most oil in the flowers during the nighttime and early morning, before the heat of the day.

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As one of the world’s leading growers and distillers of aromatic plants for essential oils, Gary Young has long understood that guaranteeing oil quality is not just a matter of subjecting essential oils to analytical equipment; it starts with an intensive understanding of the collectors and growers of the herbs, inspecting fields, monitoring distillation, and collecting samples. This is why Gary Young has insisted on visiting and inspecting all farms and facilities providing essential oils to Young Living.

Marc and Mary Lou inspecting a boiler

The most recent extension of this mandate was Gary’s scheduling of site inspections to different essential oil producers in Madagascar and Kenya, where a number of essential oils are produced, including vetiver, ylang ylang, clove, ravensara, black pepper, myrrh, and frankincense. He asked Young Living researchers, Mary Lou Jacobson, and Marc Schreuder, to accompany him during these 10 days.

Proper plant identification and distillation are critical to producing a therapeutic-grade essential oil. Local Madagascar producers often distill an essential oil from a tree known as Cinnamomum camphora and call this “Ravintsara,” substituting it for authentic Ravensara aromatica essential oil. While Cinnamomum camphora and Ravensara aromatica produce essential oils with similar chemistries, the two species have markedly different therapeutic effects. Similarly, clove bud essential oil is often watered down or “extended” with inferior clove leaf or stem essential oil, rendering the resulting composite inferior in therapeutic effects.

Mary Lou arriving at a Young Living production facility in Madagascar

The second essential oil distillery that Mary Lou and Marc visited used a wood-fired boiler system to generate steam that was piped into two 3,000-plus liter stainless steel extraction chambers. At this operation, leaves of true Ravensara aromatica were being distilled in one vessel and clove buds from Eugenia caroyophyllata (also known botanically as Syzygium aromatica) in the other. Bags of black pepper (Piper nigrum) were also awaiting distillation. Marc inspected the sacks of clove for signs of either stems or leaves, but found nothing but pure clove buds.

Master Distiller Guillermo explained that he had developed a special triple separation system at this distillery, which allowed a more precise and pure extraction of the botanicals. As the Ravensara essential oil rose to the top of the separator, Marc tapped off a 50-milliliter sample to take with him back the Young Living labs as a reference sample for subsequent analysis and comparisons.

Guillermo also explained how he was able to identify foliage from true Ravensara and distinguish it from “Ravintsara” from the camphor tree. “People try to substitute one for the other,” he stated. “Both are sustainably collected…Ravintsara from plantations and Ravensara from wild growths. The farmers collect the leaves and sell them by the kilo. But it is important for me to know which species I am distilling.”

A Young Living essential oil production facility in Madagascar

Regarding black pepper and clove, all botanicals are purchased from local collectors, who venture into forests and virgin vegetation to collect raw materials from wild growths. Even though not technically “certified organic,” the peppercorns, clove buds, and other aromatics actually exceed any organic standards because they are collected far from highways, roads, factories, and pollution that can contaminate the earth and environment.

Gary Young and Young Living continue to remain vigilant, ensuring that only the most pure raw materials are used in the production of essential oils. It is this commitment to superior quality that allows thousands to enjoy the health benefits these natural oils.

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