Product Description
Vitex or chasteberry is a shrub that is native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia. It grows up to 5-6 meters, has long leaves, blue/violet and pink/white flowers and dark purple berries. The name comes from the Greek “agnos” which means “chaste” and the Latin “castus” which also means “chaste” or “pure”.
Vitex is a medicinal plant with a very long history in folk medicine. It can be found in works of Dioscorides, Hippocrates and Homer. In Greek mythology it was said that Hera was born under a chasteberry tree. In medieval times it was believed that vitex was a powerful anaphrodisiac. Monks were carrying vitex berries to suppress sexual desire and preserve chastity, that is why it was often called “monks pepper”.
Goya Botanicals Vitex Essential Oil is produced by unpressurised steam distillation of berries and leaves of the vitex plant. It is wild harvested from the mountainside of south-west Turkey. This rare essential oil has a sweet, floral and spicy aroma of which major components are sabinene, 1,8-ineole and caryophyllene.