Allspice oil

Other comments :

The smell of the bay is close to Clove Bud EO, Cinnamon leaf EO, Nutmeg EO and pepper black EO, and for this reason it is called ''allspice ''.
The Latin name Pimenta is derived from the spanish ''Pimiento '', used to name the black pepper, and the term dioica (meaning two habitats in greek) means that the male and female flowers of the plant grow on different plants.
The tree was discovered at the same time as the American continent, during the conquest of Christopher Columbus. It was brought back to England where a culture was made until the Second World War, during which the trees were cut.
Jamaica is the main exporter of this spice, to the USA, Germany and the United Kingdom in majority, occupying 70% of the market share.
Several diseases can affect the leaves of the tree, as well as pests of many types, which can affect the crops and reduce the production.
The quality of the Allspice essential oil is checked according to the standards dictated by the Food and Drug Administration Defect Action Levels (FDADAL), by the American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) and the European Spice Association (ESA). Nevertheless, the essential oil can be adulterated with Clove Bud EO or Myrtus tabasco essential oil, which is less expensive. For the same reasons, there are also additions of essential oil from the tree leaves or Eugenol.

Stability :

Aromatic compounds can be chromophoric and cause a coloration of the oil, especially in alkaline bases

Uses in perfumery :

Used in spicy, floral-carnation, rose, tuberose, oregano and woody notes.

Chemotypes :

The other species of the genus Pimenta, widely used in perfumery, is the Pimenta racemosa or Bay St-Thomas EO, with a less terpenic and more medicinal smell.
The two raw materials remain relatively close olfactively.
Two other species of the genus Pimenta exist, but are less used for the perfume industry : Pimenta pseudocaryophyllus, grown in South America. Pimenta Guatemalensis, native to Guatemala.

Extraction process :

Allspice, or Jamaican pepper, is the fruit of a tree that is always green. Its leaves, which look like bay leaves, are fragrant and the berries are even more. The propagation of a crop is done by sowing seeds. The older trees are the ones who give the most fruit and they are used to harvest the seeds. It takes 18 to 20 years for a tree to be at its best crop yield. After ten years, 10 kg of berries can be extracted from a tree each year. The trees are cultivated every three years.
From August to October, growers climb the trees to break the branches with their hands. Using an iron ax would actually make the iron react with the tannic acid present in the branches of the tree. An infection like this would kill the tree in two years. Once on the ground, the branches are beaten to make the berries fall. The berries, still green to optimize the extraction yield, are sun-dried for four to ten days, after a possible bath in boiling water (a habit in Guatemala). Drying is sometimes done mechanically to reach a dark brown colour. Then, the berries are crushed and extracted by steam distillation. The essential oil is collected by decantation at the refrigerant outlet.
The yield of the essential oil varies from 3 to 4.5%. Moreover, extraction with a volatile solvent or with supercritical CO₂ can be carried out on the berries to obtain an extract with a different composition. Finally, the leaf of the tree can be extracted with a relatively similar yield and composition.

Geographic origin :

Data not available.