THE ORIGIN

For well-being & health

''I will not venture to evoke antiquity and the practice of medicine with essential oils in Egypt or elsewhere because we do not have enough concrete information to dwell on the subject. We know that the coil that allowed the distillation of alcohol was created in the eleventh century by Avicena, but on the other hand we know the use of the plants themselves through a history written over more than 20 centuries, notably the writings of Dioscorides who proposed at the time a treatise on 519 medicinal plants. We do not have much more in the pharmacopoeia today...''Michel Sommerard

At the origin of this practice...

Aromatherapy has been recognized especially since René Maurice Gattefossé revived its therapeutic use in 1928 and published a book "AROMATHERAPY" which gave its name to this practice. I also had the chance to work with his grandson, because the Gattefossé family owns a farmhouse in Saint Rémy de Provence and we had the same Égrot brand open-fire copper still with which we distilled roses together.

In the 60s, it was the Dr. Jean Valnet, a military doctor who gathered knowledge of phytotherapy and aromatherapy in a book, also addressing the general public and teaching this practice for which I thank him. He gave his recipes through a laboratory (Cosbionat) which does remarkable work and which financially supports our humanitarian action in Madagascar for the construction of schools. I also had the privilege of meeting Dr. Jean Valnet and learning from him.

PCloser to us the passion has spread and I cannot name everyone, but I will speak of my friends, authors and or high-level scientists, Pierre Franchomme, Daniel Pénoël, Roger Jollois, Marcel Lavabre, Ian Kusmirek, Michael Scholes, Conie Bogart, veterinary Dr Françoise Heitz, Dr Jean Michel Morel from the University of Besançon, Dr Bérangère Arnal, and my professors at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Montpellier, THE Pr Anton, THE Pr Jacques Pellecuer, THE Pr Susplugas, THE Pr MichelParis, with whom I shared the joys of discovery and who even came to my farm in Madagascar and my close friend, Dr.Gerard Magnaudeixcame too..

II would also like to quote Pierre Boiteau who carried out considerable botanical work in Madagascar and was able to treat diabetics with insulin deficiency using a plant from Madagascar, jamblong kernel powder (rotra in Malagasy) which is a remarkable hypoglycemic agent.

Le Prospanker Albert Rakoto Ratsimamangawho founded IMRA in Madagascar and collated and verified the ancestral knowledge of phytotherapy in all regions of the Big Island to perpetuate it and bring local natural remedies to the entire population. Today it is the Dr Delphin Rabehaja at the IMRA laboratory which analyses our essential oils throughout the year to allow us to rectify our work if necessary and improve it. Plants have variability, essential oil too and sometimes it is necessary to dry plants better before distilling them or to distill them fresher for example, or after the fruit or the flower depending on the results we are looking for.