Grandiflorum Jasmine Absolute

Latin name :

Jasminum grandiflorum L.

Botanical profile :

Jasminum, whether it be sambac, grandiflorum, or auriculatum, is a white-flowered shrub that can grow from 1 to 3 meters in height and form hedges in fields of cultivation. It belongs to the family Oleaceae and the genus Jasmimum.

Geographic origin :

Jasminum grandiflorum L. is mainly grown in Egypt and India, accounting for nearly 95% of the global market. China, France, and Morocco are also key players in the market, although their production are smaller.

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.

Major Components :

Benzyl Acetate (40 - 65%)
Linalool (8 - 10%)
Farnesene (7 - 10%)
Eugenol (5 - 8%)
Cis-jasmone (5 - 7%)
Indole (4 - 7%)
Benzyl benzoate (2 - 5%)
Cis-3-Hexenyl benzoate (1 - 4%)