Perfumes

1
Perfumes

• Earliest use of plant fragrance lost in history
• Perfume (burning plants) may have been first use
• Egyptians using scented oils at least 5000 years
  ago
• Egyptian men would put solid cone of perfume on
  the head, let it melt

2

• Greeks used various scents for different body
  parts
• mint, marjorum, thyme, etc
• Romans scented clothes, houses, bedding and bath
  oil, as well as their bodies
• Japanese and Chinese used incense as clocks

http//www.nawcc.org/museum/nwcm/galleries/asian/i
ncense.htm
3
Traditional methods of extracting essences

• Not usually water soluble
• Macerate (chop) plant parts in hot oil, then
  extract with alcohol
• Enfleurage
• flowers placed on layer of purified fat or oil
• they are replaced every couple of weeks
• yields outstanding scents, very expensive

http//www.museesdegrasse.com
4

• Popularity of perfume waned in Europe after the
  fall of the Roman empire, returned with the
  crusaders
• Distillation of essential oils
• Attributed to Avicenna, Arab, late 900s

5
Distillation of natural fragrances

• Plant parts are exposed to steam
• Volatile oils are carried out in steam
• Steam is cooled, oil floats and can be skimmed
• 5-6 tons of roses needed to get one kilo of
  essential rose oil
• Fractional distillation allows collection of
  substances with different volatility

6
Attars (steam distillates) being prepared in India
7
Perfumes in 18th century Europe

• More flowery as opposed to heavier scents
• Numerous ways to use perfumes, elaborate
  containers
• Vinaigrettes
• Pommanders go out of style with availability of
  liquid perfume

8
Eau de Cologne

• Germany, invented an 1709 by an Italian barber
• Rosemary, orange flower, and bergamot oils
  distilled in grape spirits
• Non-greasy
• Napolean decreed the formula must be public in
  1810

9
Grasse, in Provence, France

• Started with tannery perfumes
• for scenting gloves?
• A local company got a patent on the distillation
  system
• 1720s become a local industry
• Good sources for jasmine, rose, orange
• Modern perfume industry started here

10
Perfume odorant types today

• Concretes
• purest, soft plant parts are placed in solvent
• Absolutes
• concretes concentrated in alcohol
• Resinoids
• extracted like concretes, from plant secretions
• Tinctures
• direct extraction with ethanol
• Distilled essential oils
• most common modern methods

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Perfume anatomy

• Top notes
• immediately perceived, highly volatile, bright,
  often citrus, ginger
• Middle notes
• a minute to an hour often rose, lavender
• Bottom notes
• often animal, resin scents, perhaps vanilla,
  sandlewood

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Types of fragances

• Perfume (22 essential oils)
• Eau de Parfum (15-22)
• Eau de Toilette (8-15)
• Eau de Cologne (4)

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Business of scents (perfumes)

• 10-20 billion dollar industry
• Only a few companies are doing smell R D
• They work for two main client groups household
  products companies, and perfume companies
• Lots of secrecy

14
Lavender

• Mint family
• Sterile hybrid of two species (L. angustifolia
  and L. latifolia) most often used today
• Obtained by steam distillation
• More than 300 components, linalool important
• In many mens fragrances (fern note)

15
Rose

• Rosa centifolia and damascena
• Petals extracted with steam or solvents
• Used in many perfumes, foods

16
Geranium

• Pelargonium graveolens
• Oils distilled from leaves and stems
• Much cheaper than rose, similar fragrance in some
  types
• Essence from Reunion island especially fruity
• Also in drinks, insect repellent

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Geraniol and related compounds

• Found in a variety of plants
• Also produced synthetically

18
Jasmine

• Jasminum grandiflorum
• Volatile solvents now used, used to be enfleurage
• A ton of flowers to yield a kilo of essence
• Extremely expensive
• Wide range of jasmonoid compounds, biosynthesis
  perhaps similar to prostaglandins
• Benzyl acetate and related compounds common

19
Tuberose

• Polyanthes tuberosa
• Amaryllis relative
• Expensive, low yield to extract, done by
  enfleurage until relatively recently
• Many fragrance compounds (eugenols, nerol) also
  some weird tuberose lactones

20
Orange

• Citrus species
• Flowers, leaves, fruits, even bark all used
• Distillation or solvents used
• Wide range of compounds isolated, including
  linalool

21
Bergamot

• Citrus bergamia
• Zests from unripe fruits used
• Harmonious with many other compounds contains
  linalool, limonene does not dominate in this as
  it does in orange oil
• Coumarins removed from essence (photosensitizing)
• In Earl Grey tea, as well as perfumes, soaps
• Eau de Colognes

22
Iris of Florence

• Iris pallida
• Violet-scented rhizomes (orris root) used to
  produce a concrete with iron in myristic acid
  (called a butter)
• In perfume with heavy, woody notes

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ylang-ylang

• Cananga odorata, related plants
• From SE Asia (?)
• Annonaceae
• Very floral scent
• Several common compounds (eugenols, linalool)
  also
• p-Cresyl methyl ether
• stinks by itself, but blends well

24
Patchouli

• Shrub in the mint family
• Pogostemon cablin
• Distilled dried leaves yield several important
  fragrances
• Distinctive strong odor, but also mixes well

25
Vanilla

• Native to Mexico, much now grown in Madagascar
• More than 200 compounds have been identified
• Extract used in small amounts in perfumes its
  very strong
• Lots of synthetic vanillin relatives used

Vanillin analogs, some with carnation, cocoa
butter overtones
vanillin
26
Oakmoss

• Evernia prunastri
• A lichen found in much of Europe
• Some constituents now synthesized

27
Olibanum (incense tree)

• Resin from a Boswellia tree
• Resinous, woody smell
• Used in some perfumes (Opium, Jicky)

28
Fixatives

• Various animal products
• Ambergis, musk, castoreum, civet
• synthetics often used now
• e.g. ambergris compound from sage

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Others

• Ginger, cardamom, pepper (Piper nigrum), clove
• Many more

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Perfume themes

• Floral
• Chypre (bergamot, jasmine, oakmoss)
• Aldehydic (most famous is Chanel No.5, described
  as piquant)
• Fougerè (lavender, coumarin, oakmoss), often in
  mens products
• Woody (sandlewood, patchouli, cedar)
• Oriental (includes vanilla, ambergris)

31
Synthetic vs natural what are the issues?

• The truth about fragrance oils
• www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/fragrance_oils.html
• Each essential oil comes from just one source, a
  living plant.  There are no chemicals involved.
• Remember, they are all chemicals!
• We may actually know more about the synthetic
  mixtures than the natural ones

32
Concerns

• Toxicity to people?
• Allergens?
• Increasing asthma incidence?
• Unknown compounds in the mix?
• Persistence in the environment?
• Example synthetic musk

33
Synthetic musk

• May accumulate in some organisms (e.g. mussels),
  prevents removal of other toxins