It is a mechanical treatment that makes it possible to recover the essential oil or essence , found in the peel of citrus fruits also called "zests" or "epicarps". This type of treatment is only used for citrus fruits. To extract the essence from the bergamot peel, the method used is essentially the pelatrice a machine made up of a mechanical scraper , reinforced with centrifuges. For oranges, the whole fruit must be pressed. In the past, there were various methods for extracting citrus peels: the sponge treatment consisted of removing the pulp from the fruit and extracting the essence from the peel using sponges that absorbed the product and the spoon treatment consisted of collecting the essence by scraping the citrus peel with a spoon.
Used since antiquity, this extraction process was perfected in the Arab civilisation from the 8th century onwards. Today, distillation is the main technique in traditional perfumery. This process allows the treatment of certain flower petals, as well as seeds, bark, leaves and roots.
However, not all raw materials used in perfumery can be treated by distillation. The alembic, a device designed to separate products by heating and then cooling, is used to obtain the essential oil or essence , as well as the floral water, in the case of orange blossom and rose blossom.
Already practised in ancient times, the enfleurage technique has been in common use since the beginning of the 18th century. At that time, particularly fragile materials could not be treated by distillation and were therefore extracted by cold or hot enfleurage. This extraction technique was developed in Grasse, in the South of France, but it was abandoned around the s, as soon as the volatile solvent extraction process became reliable.
Enfleurage consists of saturating the fat with the scent of the flowers that are placed on plates surrounded by wooden frames, or shredded in hot oil. The fat absorbs the scents of the raw materials, and makes it possible to obtain a very precious and expensive product called "absolute ointment". Today, some small producers are trying to restart the enfleurage activity in Grasse, but this remains very confidential. Volatile solvent extraction consists of dissolving the fragrant components of the plant in a solvent which is then evaporated.
This method replaced enfleurage and became really operational in the 19th century. It consists of immersing the flowers in a large tank, called an "extractor". Once the extractor is closed, the contents are immersed in a solvent such as ethanol, hexane, or benzene, which carry the plant molecules away.
The final product is called the absolute. It is then washed with alcohol to obtain the precious concrete. The oils were extracted, pressed, steamed and then burned in order to scent the surrounding air. This article delves into the rich history of perfume creation and provides the ultimate industry guide to mastering the art of perfume manufacturing , from the process of extraction, aging and all the ins and outs of developing a marketable, timeless scent.
Perfumes are mentioned in the Bible referring to Three Wise Men carrying gifts of myrrh and frankincense to bestow upon the baby Jesus. The ancient Egyptian culture is rife with references to the use of scented oils and perfumes as evidenced in hieroglyphics and written papyrus records.
It had many diverse uses. For religious rituals, they burned an incense called kypi , which was comprised of henna, myrrh, cinnamon and juniper. They also made aromatic body lotions from the liquid resulting from soaking aromatic wood, gum and resin in water and oil. Fragrance was an integral aspect of the embalming process.
It reached Europe via the Crusaders during the 13th century when they returned from Palestine bearing gifts of perfume samples, which they dispersed throughout England, Italy and France. Europeans first used fragrance for what they believed were its healing properties.
Seventeenth-century physicians treated plague victims by covering up their mouths and noses with leather pouches containing pungent cloves , cinnamon, and other spices. They believed this action would protect them from further contagion. Perfume permeated clothing, furniture, walls and even cutlery. The Grasse region in southern France became a leading producer of perfume, as it was an area where many flowering plant varieties flourished.
The mass marketing of perfume began in the mid s and coincided with the introduction of synthetic chemicals. The very first synthetic perfume was made from nitric acid and benzene and called, not surprisingly, nitrobenzene. This mixture had aromatic top notes of almond and was often used in the popular scented soaps of the day. In , an Englishman named William Perkin created a fragrance that smelled like freshly mown hay by synthesizing coumarin, which is derived from the South American tonka bean.
Other advances included synthetic violet and vanilla developed by Ferdinand Tiemann at the University of Berlin and an alcohol called citronellol , which was created by American, Francis Despard Dodge. This synthetic compound was made from citronella oil and contained aromatic notes of sweet pea, lily of the valley, narcissus, and hyacinth.
There are six methods by which oils are extracted from plants. These include: steam distillation, boiling, solvent extraction, enfleurage , maceration and expression. In the first method, steam passing through the plant material turns the essential oil into gas, which is then passed through tubes, cooled and liquefied.
In the boiling process, oils can be extracted by boiling flower petals in water. In the case of solvent extraction, flowers are placed in large rotating tanks and benzene or petroleum ether is poured over them, which extracts the essential oils. This causes the parts of the flower to dissolve and leave in their wake a waxy material, which contains the oil, which is then placed in ethyl alcohol.
The oil rises after it dissolves in alcohol, and heat is then applied to evaporate the alcohol. This leaves a high concentration of perfume oil on the bottom of the tanks. The enfleurage method of extracting essential oils is both costly and labor-intensive. It entails spreading flowers out on grease-coated glass sheets and then carefully placing them in tiers between wooden frames.
The glass sheets are covered with highly purified and odorless vegetable or animal fat. Perfume bottles were often as elaborate and exotic as the oils they contained. The earliest specimens date back to about B. In ancient Egypt, newly invented glass bottles were made largely to hold perfumes. The crafting of perfume bottles spread into Europe and reached its peak in Venice in the 18th century, when glass containers assumed the shape of small animals or had pastoral scenes painted on them.
Today perfume bottles are designed by the manufacturer to reflect the character of the fragrance inside, whether light and flowery or dark and musky. Natural ingredients—flowers, grasses, spices, fruit, wood, roots, resins, balsams, leaves, gums, and animal secretions—as well as resources like alcohol, petrochemicals, coal, and coal tars are used in the manufacture of perfumes.
Some plants, such as lily of the valley, do not produce oils naturally. In fact, only about 2, of the , known flowering plant species contain these essential oils. Therefore, synthetic chemicals must be used to re-create the smells of non-oily substances. Synthetics also create original scents not found in nature. Some perfume ingredients are animal products. For example, castor comes from beavers, musk from male deer, and ambergris from the sperm whale. Animal substances are often used as fixatives that enable perfume to evaporate slowly and emit odors longer.
Other fixatives include coal tar, mosses, resins, or synthetic chemicals. Alcohol and sometimes water are used to dilute ingredients in perfumes. It is the ratio of alcohol to scent that determines whether the perfume is "eau de toilette" toilet water or cologne. Oils are extracted from plant substances by several methods: steam distillation, solvent extraction, enfleurage, maceration, and expression.
Oils are extracted from plant substances by steam disfillation, solvent extraction, enfleurage, maceration, or expression. It is the ratio of alcohol to scent that determines perfume, eau de toilette, and cologne. After the scent has been created, it is mixed with alcohol. The amount of alcohol in a scent can vary greatly.
Because perfumes depend heavily on harvests of plant substances and the availability of animal products, perfumery can often turn risky. Thousands of flowers are needed to obtain just one pound of essential oils, and if the season's crop is destroyed by disease or adverse weather, perfumeries could be in jeopardy.
In addition, consistency is hard to maintain in natural oils. The same species of plant raised in several different areas with slightly different growing conditions may not yield oils with exactly the same scent. Problems are also encountered in collecting natural animal oils. Many animals once killed for the value of their oils are on the endangered species list and now cannot be hunted.
For example, sperm whale products like ambergris have been outlawed since Also, most animal oils in general are difficult and expensive to extract. Deer musk must come from deer found in Tibet and China; civet cats, bred in Ethiopia, are kept for their fatty gland secretions; beavers from Canada and the former Soviet Union are harvested for their castor. Synthetic perfumes have allowed perfumers more freedom and stability in their craft, even though natural ingredients are considered more desirable in the very finest perfumes.
The use of synthetic perfumes and oils eliminates the need to extract oils from animals and removes the risk of a bad plant harvest, saving much expense and the lives of many animals.
Perfumes today are being made and used in different ways than in previous centuries. Perfumes are being manufactured more and more frequently with synthetic chemicals rather than natural oils. Less concentrated forms of perfume are also becoming increasingly popular.
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