the aromaconnection blog

Aromatics in Print

A review of some of the recent print magazines to come across my desk.  Links are supplied when articles are free online; otherwise you’ll have to visit your local library or subscribe.

• The January 2009 issue of Perfumer&Flavorist reports on the IFRA workshop on Allergy Prevalence in Fragrance held in November 2008 in Brussels; Reports on the Centifolia 2008 Conference featuring an article on “The Three Pillars of Smart Sustainability in F&F” that discusses how we can increase the usage of natural products while maintaining the natural environment; an article by Brian Lawrence “A preliminary Report on the World Production of Some Selected Essential Oils and Countries” (for example, did you know that 67% of orange oil, the #1 oil, comes from Brazil—or that Hungary is the largest producer of Blue Chamomile Oil?); and Brian Lawrence’s monthly column “Progress in Essential Oils” covers Orange Oil. The print magazine also provides links to online articles, particularly “FMA Ponders Green Fragrances”.
• The December 2008 issue of GCI (Global Cosmetic Industry) contains an article “What Do Ethical and Sustainable Mean to Today’s Beauty Consumer?” that raises some of the issues and discusses how some companies have dealt with the issues, concluding that “those companies seen to behave in an ethical and transparent manner are likely to win over today’s skeptical consumers.”
• The September 2008 issue of DAYSPA magazine discusses how organic applies to the Spa world in “You Say You’re Organic?”, something that seems to be open to interpretation in the Spa industry. [see previous note].
• The December 2008 issue of Economic Botany contains a paper “Traditional Tar Production from Cedrus libani A. Rich on the Taurus Mountains in Southern Turkey” (abstract) that describes how katran, a tar that has medicinal properties, from chips of old stumps that undergo a kind of distillation process involving burning them in a closed space. The katran is about half Monoterpenoids and Sesquiterpenoids, the remainder comprising hydrocarbons such as heptane. Not surprisingly, the chemical composition is similar to that of cedar essential oils.Traditional uses for katran include a number of medicinal uses for humans and animals, and as an insect repellant. Unfortunately the authors used “volatile oils” and not “essential oils” as a keyword, so the article may not be easily found by an online search.

Technorati Tags: sustainabiliity,essential oils,spa industry,essential oil production,katran,Cedrus libani

Aromatics in Print

This is a new series that will review aromatics information found in the print media. When possible a web link will be provided. Items that have broader information available may stimulate a full blog post as a followup.

• Plants and People: Society for Economic Botany Newsletter, Volume 22, Fall 2008 announced a meeting held in Vietnam November 1-4, 2008: Cultivated Agarwood in Vietnam: A Guided Field Tour of Successful Agarwood Production in the Mekong Delta.  The seminar was organized by Seven Mountain Co. and presenters were Robert Blanchette, University of Minnesota, and Henry Heuveling van Beek.  For more information about Cultivated Agarwood (Aquilaria crassna) see this link. Plants and People is posted online in PDF format. We've blogged about agarwood in Vietnam earlier.
• This issue also included (p 15) a list of "Recent Publications on Medicinal Plants from India."
• The Herb Companion (January 2009) reviews the book: The Unlikely Lavender Queen by Jeannie Ralston, which is available at amazon.com.
• Herb Companion also has a short piece on home distillation of "Herbal Waters" and suggests that the distillation process destroys the antioxidant properties of the herbs distilled. They cite an article from the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55:8436-8443, "Antioxidant Activity and Phenolic Composition of Lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia Emeric ex Loiseleur) Waste (Abstract available but they still charge for the article).
• Herb Companion discusses and links to the new International Standard for Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP) which, in my understanding, is still a work in progress. They also link to a newly formed Fairwild Foundation which will have responsibility for final implementation and the quality of the standard.
• The December issue of perfumer&flavorist leads off with and editorial: "Everyone's a Critic: Are Fragrance Bloggers and Critics Good for the Industry?" Jeb Gleason-Allured, the Editor concludes that "yes, fragrance criticism and bloggers are ultimately good for the industry. A lively and devoted discourse is the lifeblood of any art form, and fragrance has for too long been ignored. . ."
• In the same issue of p&f, there are a number of articles addressing the subject of naturals in the Fragrance industry: "(Not) Lost in Translation", p. 41; a sidebar on p. 42 on "the Challenge of Organics and Natural Material Sourcing"; "Defining 'Natural'" [a discussion of the Natural Products Association's Seal] on pp 44-46; "Natural Stories: Ylang-ylang" pp 47-51. There is also a review of a recent talk by New York Times scent critic Chandler Burr on "The Future of Naturals in Perfumery", p. 20. The editorial direction of P&F seems to be moving in the direction of accepting and using Natural products, probably under the Editorship of the (relatively) young Jeb Gleason-Allured, and Natural Products Editor Brian Lawrence.
• The November 2008 issue of the AARP Bulletin has a piece in its Health Section (p. 26) entitled "The Scent of Roses for Rosy Dreams." It references a study done in Germany in which researchers administered the scent of roses, rotten eggs, or an unscented control to 15 women after they entered REM sleep. When awakened one minute later, they reported their dreams. The rose resulted in dreams with a positive emotional tone, while the rotten eggs produced the opposite. A more detailed report on the study is online in Health News.

Technorati Tags: agarwood,Medicinal Plants,hydrosols,standards,blogging,natural products,rose scent