Oleum Anethi. Br. Oil of Dill.

Related entry: Dill Fruit

"Oil of Dill is the oil distilled from Dill Fruit." Br.

Huile volatile d'Aneth, Essence d'Aneth, Fr.; Dill, Dillöl, G.

Oil of dill is of a pale yellow color, with the odor of the fruit, and a hot, sweetish, acrid taste. Its sp. gr. varies between 0.895 and 0.915. The fruit yields about 3.5 per cent. of it. The oil is a mixture of a paraffin hydrocarbon, and 40 to 60 per cent. of d-carvone, C₁₀H₁₄O, with d-limonene, C₁₀H₁₆. (See Oleum Cari.) Phellandrene is present in the English and Spanish oils, but not to any appreciable extent in the German oil. "Colorless or pale yellow, darkening on keeping. Odor that of Dill Fruit; taste at first sweet and aromatic, but subsequently pungent. Specific gravity 0.900 to 0.915; optical rotation +70° to +80°; refractive index at 25° C. (77° F.) 1.483 to 1.488. Soluble in 3 parts of alcohol (90 per cent.)." Br. R. Nietski obtained from dill, the fruit of Anethum graveolens, a volatile oil, which commenced to boil at 155° C. (311° F.), the boiling point rising gradually to 260° C. (500° F.). About 10 per cent. of the oil consists of a hydrocarbon, C₁₀H₁₆, having the boiling point from 155° to 160° C. (311°-320° F., 60 per cent. boiling at from 170° to 175° C. (338°-347° F.), of the same composition, and 30 per cent. with the boiling point from 225° to 230° C. (437°-446° F.), composition C₁₀H₁₄O, and identical with carvol. The odor of the first portion of hydrocarbon is similar to that of turpentine; that of the second portion resembles oil of mace, but when mixed with a little carvol the characteristic dill odor is at once produced. (A. J. P., 1874.) The oil is sometimes used for the preparation of dill water.

Dose, from. one to three minims (0.065-0.2 mil).

The Dispensatory of the United States of America, 1918, was edited by Joseph P. Remington, Horatio C. Wood and others.