Osmanthus Absolute

Latin name :

Osmanthus fragrans

Botanical profile :

Osmanthus is the flower of a tree of the Oleaceae family, like the olive tree, and of the genus Osmanthus.

Geographic origin :

Originally from southeast China and the Himalayas, osmanthus is now widely grown in China (mainly on the edge of rice fields in the provinces of Chunking, Hsintu and Chengtu), Japan and Thailand

Chemotypes :

The genus Osmanthus contains about 30 species.
Osmanthus fragrans is the only one used in perfumery, and contains two varieties: var. aurantiacus and var. thunbergii.
Other common species may, however, be mentioned:
Osmanthus americanus, grown in Virginia and Texas.
Osmanthus yunnanensis, native to the Yunnan province in China.
Osmanthus delavayi, native to the Chinese provinces of Guizhou and Sichuan.
Osmanthus heterophyllus, native to Japan and Taiwan.

Extraction process :

Osmanthus is a tree that can measure 3 to 12 meters in height. It has the same look as an olive tree and is also part of his botanical family. The propagation of a crop can be done by sowing seeds as osmanthus grows berries rather quickly this way although the culture yield will be lower, or by an asexual production that requires a treatment of the plant beforehand.
To obtain a good crop yield, osmanthus should be grown at the north of a sub-tropical region, in a mountainous region, with a high sun exposure and on a very fertile soil. The flowers are picked by hand during the month of December in China. They must be picked during the day, as the flowers wilt quickly. Before the extraction, the flowers are immersed in brine to improve their preservation.
An extraction of the fresh flowers with hexane allows to collect a concrete after evaporating the solvent. The solvent is collected and recycled to extract other flowers, while the exhausted flowers are thrown away. Then, the concrete is diluted in alcohol and submitted to a glazing process at a temperature gradient of 140 °F to 32 °F in order to precipitate the waxes of the concrete. The absolute is obtained by filtration and evaporation of the alcohol.
The overall extraction yield is about 1.2%.
In China, about only 1 ton of concrete is produced each year, which explains the cost of this raw material.

Major Components :

Linolenic Acid (15-20%)
Linoleic Acid (≈9%)
Palmitic Acid (≈9%)
Beta-Ionone (≈8%)
Linalool Oxide (≈8%)
Oleic Acid (≈7%)
DihydroBeta-Ionone (≈6%)
Alpha-Ionone (≈6%)
para-Methoxy Phenylethyl Alcohol (≈2%)