Jasmine Grandiflorum absolute

Other comments :

Along with the rose, jasmine is one of the most emblematic flowers of perfumery.
Nowadays, the main producers are in Egypt or India. However, the city of Grasse, whose plant has in part made its reputation, continues to produce on a smaller scale. The cultivation of jasmine is also part of Grasse's know-how, classified as Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) by the UNESCO.
Jasmine extracts are certified 100% organic. This is mainly the case for its uses in aromatherapy.
In India, in the region of Coimbatore, 90% of the jasmine culture is dedicated to the production of extracts for perfumery. Other parts of the country grow jasmine for other purposes.
Usually, five hours of a picker's work gives an average of three to four kilograms of jasmine. Given the hard work required by this crop, the land rarely exceeds more than half a hectare of surface.
Jasmine cultivation is not subject to the use of pesticides and fertilizers to accelerate plant growth.
In Egypt, jasmine is the second largest source of agricultural income. In non-cultivation periods, the land is used to grow salad, peas and clover.

Stability :

Solubility issues in perfumes
The esters identified in this raw material can form their corresponding acid in stability tests

Uses in perfumery :

Used in combination with other flowers in a floral bouquet, or alone for a solar note and for its typicity. Its smell is most noticeable in gourmet perfumes, but less so in a fresh, floral scent.

Chemotypes :

In perfumery, two varieties of jasmine are mainly used:
Jasminum grandiflorum L. (Jasmine Grandiflorum Absolute / Jasmine Grandiflorum Concrete) found for example in Grasse or Egypt.
Jasminum sambac (L.) Aiton (Jasmine Sambac Absolute / Jasmine Sambac Concrete) mostly cultivated in India.
These two varieties are easily recognizable as grandiflorum has large and rounded flowers while those of sambac are thinner and longer.

Two other species are also grown for perfumery, in smaller proportions:
Jasminum asteroides
Jasminum auriculatum Vahl (Jasmine Auriculatum Absolute / Jasmine Auriculatum Concrete) mainly cultivated in India.

Extraction process :

The iconic small white flowers of jasmine mainly bloom during the summer season. They are usually handpicked before dawn and quickly processed because of their fragility and quickly lose their scent. Harvest takes place from June to December, with plants aged between 3 to 10 years. On average, around 5-6 tons per hectare are harvested each year in India, compared to 10-15 tons per hectare in Egypt.
While enfleurage was the ancient extraction method, the most common technique today is solvent extraction, using hexane or petroleum ether. These methods yield to Jasmine Grandiflorum Concrete (yield ≈0.5% from fresh flowers) and, after glazing and filtering the waxes, Jasmine Grandiflorum Absolute (yield 50-70% from the concrete).
It is very rare for producers to work with Jasmine Grandiflorum EO as steam distillation is not efficient and the scent is mainly considered as uninteresting. However, there are CO₂ supercritical extracts of Jasmine Grandiflorum, which provide better olfactory quality but at a higher cost. In recent years, the enfleurage processes has also been highlighted, although volumes are very low.

Geographic origin :

Data not available.