Blue Chamomile EO

Latin name :

Matricaria recutica

Botanical profile :

Blue chamomile is a plant of the Asteraceae family and the genus Matricaria.

Geographic origin :

Originally from Germany, blue chamomile is now grown mainly in Egypt or in Maroc

Chemotypes :

Blue chamomile is a so-called ''sesquiterpenes '' chamomile for its composition. There are several varieties of chamomiles, some of which are only used in perfumery:
Anthemis nobilis or Roman chamomile, whose essential oil grown around the Mediterranean is also widely used in perfumery.
Anthemis arvensis is an scentless variety of chamomile.
Anthemis cotula or stinking chamomile, is renowned for its very powerful and unpleasant smell.
Anthemis tinctoria or yellow chamomile, is a yellow variety, grown in Europe and West Asia.
Ormenis multicaulis or Moroccan wild chamomile, grown for its essential oil in the Mediterranean basin. It has a fruity and green note.
Matricaria discoidea or pineapple weed, native to North America and subsequently introduced in France.
Four main chemotypes of blue chamomile exist, including one with α-Bisabolol (found in Spain and Portugal) and one with bisaboloxides, known to be antiviral.

Extraction process :

The harvest of chamomile is made with a harvester.
Chamomiles are distilled in two ways: traditionally or in a truck box. Traditional distillation involves harvesting the chamomile with its stems without grinding it. The fresh plant is left outside to dry in the sun, before it is extracted classically, by steaming in distillation tanks. Truck box distillation consists in harvesting chamomile and its stem with a harvester by grinding it. The chamomile is extracted inside the harvest box, with a water vapor entry and an exit towards a coolant, where the essential oil is collected.
Traditional distillation gives a warmer and herbaceous scent, as both green and volatile molecules have evaporated during the drying step.
The extraction yield of blue chamomile is between 3 and 8 ‰.
The essential oil of blue camomile can be distilled to be bleached, without a great olfactory deterioration.

Major Components :

For Egyptian type :
trans-béta-farnesène (15 - 35%)
Alpha-bisabolol oxide A (35 - 50%)
Alpha-bisabolol oxide B (2 - 8%)
Alpha-bisabolol (1-10%)
Bisabolone oxide A (2 - 6,5%)
Chamazulene (2 - 5%)

For Hungarian type :
trans-béta-farnesène (20 - 51%)
Alpha-bisabolol oxide A (2 - 27%)
Alpha-bisabolol oxide B (2 - 21%)
Alpha-bisabolol (15 - 40%)
Bisabolone oxide A (1 - 4%)
Chamazulene (5 - 22%)