Bay Oil

Bay Oil (Oleum Lauri expressum), balsamic ointment (Ph. VII), is obtained by boiling with water or hot pressing of fresh fruits of the noble laurel (Laurus nobilis family Lauraceae). The homeland of laurel is Asia Minor; in Europe it grows along the Mediterranean coast; in the USSR it is found on the southern coast of Crimea. Bay oil has the appearance of a soft, low-melting, green, grainy mass, with a characteristic laurel scent and bitter taste. Constituent parts of bay oil: trilaurin C₃H₅(C₁₂H₂₃O₂)₃ (melting at 44-46° and solidifying at 23°), olein, myristin, essential oil (up to 2.5%), from which the scent of bay oil depends (containing pinene, cineol up to 50%, sesquiterpenes, etc.), chlorophyll, phytosterin. Bay oil dissolves well in ether, less easily in cold alcohol, more easily in warm. Constants: solidification point 24-25°, melting point 32-40°; saponification number 200-214; iodine number 49-78.4 (VII-67-70.5). In medicine, bay oil is used for rubbing as a mild skin irritant, in skin diseases and in veterinary practice. Bay oil is used in folk medicine under the name of balsamic ointment. Bay oil is also used as a protective agent against flies and other insects. Bay oil is part of the complex sulfur ointment (ФУП). Mature, dried laurel fruits (berries) are also used in medicine. The leaf of the noble laurel is widely used as a spice by all peoples.