Schriften zu Genetischen Ressourcen - Genres

H. SCHULZ
mountains. Today, the main part of lavender oils is made from lavandin which is a
hybrid of Lavandula angustifolia and Lavandula latifolia. Lavandin is infertile and is
therefore propagated by cuttings (Lawrence 1981).
The essential oil of L. angustifolia has a high linalyl acetate and a relatively low linalool
content. In contrast to that, the ester content in spike lavender oil is very low but
it contains large amounts of linalool. The ester content of lavandin oil made from the
cultivar ‘Abrialis’ is in between the values of the parent plants but today there exist
also other hybrids such as ‘Super’ or ‘Grosso’ containing high levels of linalyl acetate.
Utilisation for the production of perfume oils and synthetic fragrances
The estimated annual production of essential oils world-wide is about 45,000 tons. Of
these, ca. 70 % are used for the food industry. Especially citrus oils and mint oils
have some economic importance in this context because these raw materials are
used in large quantities. The world production of perfume oils, for all applications
taken together, is about 300,000 tons. It follows therefore that the average proportion
of natural products in a perfume formulation is about 4.5 %.
Important fields of applications for essential oils are both in fine perfumes as well as
in toiletries such as soaps. Already in classical so-called “Cologne” notes such as
“4711 Echt Kölnisch Wasser”, which was first created in 1772, bergamot oil was used
to obtain the typical fresh character. But also today the special scents of lemon,
mandarin, orange and lime are very important for the development of numerous perfumes
such as “CK-One” of Calvin Klein or “Cool Water” of Davidoff.
One of the most frequently used essential oil substances in this context is α-pinene
occurring in turpentine oil but also in many other essential oils. In can be transformed
under acidic conditions into camphene, which in presence of acetic acid forms isobornyl
acetate, one of the important items for functional perfumery. Saponification
and oxidation of isobornyl acetate give camphor (Fig. 1).
Another synthesis uses solvent extracts of clary sage, which contain sclareol as main
component. This diterpene alcohol is used as a starting material for numerous ambra
fragrances such as ambrein which is the major component in the secretion of the
sperm whale, possibly resulting from a pathological condition. In presence of light
and air ambrein is easily oxidised forming dihydro-?-ionone which also presents
strong ambra odour (Fig. 2) (BRUNKE 1990).
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