Bitter Orange Blossom concrete & absolute
March 1, 2021
Blue Chamomile oil
January 7, 2021
Violet Leaf concrete & absolute
Production Method
The concrete is produced by solvent extraction (hexane) of the fresh leaves (the presence of flowers or not in the biomass is irrelevant) harvested four times in a season in Egypt. The absolute is displaced from the concrete using ethanol, and the by-product of absolute is wax.
Uses
In Perfumery, used in high-end fine fragrances “to enhance the green leafy top-note in floral and green floral compositions (e.g. Chanel 19). It is often used in combination with orris and fine woody notes.” Burfield, T. “Natural Aromatic Materials – Odours & Origins” (2000). In Flavors, it is used in confectionery and many applications with great effect to boost red berry flavors. Violet Leaf absolute is the epitome of a ‘green note’, fresh, cucumber-like thanks to the presence of Nonadienal (Violet Leaf aldehyde). In Aromatherapy, Violet Leaf absolute is not that well known and is therefore scarcely used. It finds uses in the fragrance compositions of product lines (shampoos, soaps, etc.) not directly related to core aromatherapy applications.
Botanical Origin & Historiography
Native to Europe and parts of Asia. In classical sources, Pliny and Horace refer to the flower as “Ion” relating to Io one of Zeus’ many mortal lovers. Io was a priestess of Zeus’ wife, Hera. Her husband’s love for Io didn’t go unnoticed to Hera. To protect Io from Hera’s wrath, Zeus transformed her into a heifer and provided her with Violets beds to eat from. To make her life miserable Hera sent a gadfly to harass her continuously. Io eventually escaped her torture by swimming across the Ionian Sea to Egypt where Zeus brought her back to her human form. There she bore two children to Zeus (Epaphus and Keroessa) and later eventually married an Egyptian king, Telegonus. Epaphus will eventually become great-grandfather to Aegyptus and Europa by his wife Memphis, a daughter of Nilus. So goes the mythological story behind Violets and their distinctive chemical components ionones found in the leaf absolute as well as the coincidental modern drift of their production from Tourrettes-sur-Loup (close to Grasse, France) to the banks of the Nile in Egypt where most of the world’s production comes from today…
