Abies Species Oils

#### Abies sp. Spruces ("firs") grow all over the world and are planted for various purposes in numerous countries. Essential oils are often produced from such local species for domestic use and hardly ever exported. In Japan—particularly on Hokkaido Island— between 100 and 200 tons of "fir" needle oils were produced annually in postwar years. These oils found use in the perfuming of soaps, low-cost household cleaners, detergents, etc. The production of these oils has decreased in the past few years. **Abies Mayriana **and **Abies Sachalinensis **are two of the most important Japanese firs, from which essential oils are distilled. The production in 1958 of the two oils was about 10 tons. These oils are of comparatively high ester content: 22—26% bornylacetate. In this respect the oils are only slightly inferior to the oil of **Balsam Fir, see **this monograph.