Tagetes essential oil

from the Composites family and also known as marigold, Mexican marigold and tagetette and often confused with calendula oil, which is Calendula officinalis and the "true marigold". A weed with deeply divided deep-green feathery leaves and numerous yellowish-orange carnation-like flowers.The leaves and flowers are a good insect repellent and are often seen hanging from native huts to deter swarms of flies and mosquitoes. Harvest and Distillation Tagetes oil is extracted from the leaves, stalks and flowers, picked when the seeds are just starting to form. Oil properties Tagetes oil has a sweet, fruity almost citrus-like smell and is yellow to reddish-amber in color. It is medium in viscosity that turns thick and even gel-like if exposed to the air for a long time.The main chemical components are: Tagetone, Limonene, Val eric acid and Ocimene etc., Therapeutic properties The therapeutic properties of Tagetes oil are: anti-infectious, anti-microbial, antibiotic, anti-spasmodic, anti-parasitic, antiseptic, insecticide and sedative. Uses In a 5% dilution Tagetes oil has been used to kill maggots in open wounds. The roots and seeds have been found to help rid the body of poisons. Tagetes is an ingredient of many foot treatment preparations and is also used extensively in French perfumes. Tagetes oil is valuable in keeping insects at bay, and can help with parasitic and fungal infestation. It could help with chest infections, coughs and catarrh, dilating the bronchi, facilitating the flow of mucus and dislodging congestion. Tagetes oil is useful in cases of skin infections, and has a healing effect on wound, cuts, calluses and bunions