Damask Rose Absolute

Latin name :

Rosa damascena

Botanical profile :

The Damascus rose, or damascena rose, is the flower of a shrub of the Rosaceae family and the genus Rosa.

Geographic origin :

Originally from Syria, Damascus rose is now grown in Turkey, Bulgaria and still in its country of origin

Chemotypes :

Several species of rose can be extracted for the perfume industry :
Rosa centifolia or Rose de mai EO - Rose de Mai Absolute, grown in the region of Grasse, is the most prized of all rose species.
Rosa Damascena or Damask Rose Absolute - Damask Rose EO

Other widely used species, not necessarily in perfumery :
Rosa canina or dog rose, found in the temperate regions of Europe, Asia and Africa.
Rosa gallica, or French rose, native to Central Europe and Asia Minor.
Rosa moschata, or musk rose, native to Asia Minor and cultivated in Europe.
Rosa rugosa, or rugosa rose, native to Japan and China.
The genus Rosa contains globally about 250 species, and no less than 25 000 varieties!

Extraction process :

As for the Rose de Mai, this rose native to Syria is harvested from May to June and picked by hand one by one. The crop starts early in the morning, around 6am, and ends in the late morning. Ideally, the roses that are picked should be half open, to ensure a good extraction yield. They are placed in sacks before they are brought to the factory, where the bags are weighed. It is best to extract the fresh roses to produce the essential oil. Although, these can not all be extracted at once. Therefore, to avoid maceration problems, it is advisable to keep them fresh and protected from moisture.
Every day about 200 tons of roses can be extracted, combining hydrodistillations and volatile solvent extractions. The first extraction with hexane gives a concrete after removing the flowers from the extractor and evaporating the solvent. The concrete can be diluted in the alcohol in order to precipitate the waxes, by glazing the mixture with a temperature gradient of 140 °F. to 32 °F. The absolute is obtained after filtration and evaporation of the alcohol.
A steam distillation allows to collect an essential oil with a more citrus and fresh smell.
A rose absolute can be distilled to remove the insoluble compounds.

Major Components :

Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol (60-80%)
Citronellol (5-10%)
Geraniol (3-5%)
Phenyl Ethyl Acetate (≈2%)
Benzyl Alcohol (≈1%)
IsoGeranyl Butyrate (≈1%)
Eugenol (≈2%)
4-Allylveratrole (≈1%)
Farnesol (≈1%)
Plotters (compounds exclusively found in this raw material, abling its identification in analysis) : Nonadecane and Heptadecane