Rose oil Bulgaria[Rosa Damascena] and its chemical composition

                                                                                         

Rose oil Bulgaria[Rosa Damascena] and its chemical composition

By Prashantkumar Kudli Shrinivas


The rose oil Bulgaria is the essential oil, steam distilled from the flowers of Rosa Damascena.


Rose oil is an elegant fragrant essential oil extracted from the species Rosa damascena, and holds a special place in the hearts of all who love aromatherapy and natural perfumery. There is quite simply, no other essential oil quite like it in terms of fragrance and wealth of therapeutic healing benefits.


It is hard to believe that of all the places in the world where roses are cultivated, there are just a handful of regions in 2 countries that provide just the right conditions to grow this incredible flower in large enough quantities to produce rose essential oil! One such area is in Bulgaria, and the others are in Turkey and both are connected by history.


The particular variety of rose grown to produce rose oil in both of these countries is Rosa damascena forma trigintipetala, and its parentage has been the subject of great debate for many, many years. At one time it was believed to be a horticultural hybrid of Rosa gallica and Rosa canina that had escaped cultivation, but recent advances in identifying plant genetics has suggested it is more likely to be a hybrid of R. gallica and R. phoenicia.


In entire 19th century, the Bulgarian rose oil industry reigned supreme, almost monopolizing the entire world supply of rose oil. This monopoly was broken when the industry was nationalized due to dramatic changes in the political and economical climate after World War 2, when production fell into a steady decline. Today, Turkey holds the record as the largest producer of rose otto, and only the oil from this country matches the quality and fine fragrance to that of Bulgaria.



In Bulgaria during the early 1900's, rose oil was distilled on-site using direct-fire stills operated by the farmers due to which the farmers were getting lower yields of the oil. Now a days,by using modern industrial distillation techniques,Rose oil yields are improved.


In Bulgaria and Turky, water distillation is carried out in distillation units of comparatively modern design. The rose flowers are distilled quickly after harvesting and the distillation requires considerable experience to get right quality oil. It is common practise to redistill the distillation waters and to bulk the oils from the two distillations.


Modern stills are made of copper or steel and are heated with an open wood fire, coal or other fuels from below. The roses can not be distilled in the usual way by directly injecting steam, because the petals compact to form a large mass that the steam can not penetrate. Therefore the distillation techniques have been refined in various ways to overcome this problem.


During distillation, a large amount of oil is absorbed into the distillation water, and this is known as the 'First Water'. The rose oil must be recovered from this water to produce an acceptable yield, and this is achieved by skillfully re-distilling the water to separate the oil; a process known as cohobation.


The amount of oil produced directly from distillation is as low as only 20% or 25%, the majority being recovered from the distillate water by cohobation. This ratio does vary depending upon certain factors, but is usually in the region of 25% 'direct oil' and 75% 'water oil'. The 'Second Water' remaining after the process of cohobation is then sold as rose hydrosol or re-cycled in the still for the next batch of flowers.


The total yield of oil will depend upon several conditions; climate of cultivation, the time of the harvest, condition of the flowers and the method of distillation. During the middle of the harvest period, the yield is higher than at the beginning, and mild weather will result in a further increase in the oil produced.


On average, Rosa damascena will yield 1 kilo of oil per 4000 kilos of flowers using modern distillation processes. Under very favorable conditions only 2600-3000 kilos of roses may be required to produce 1 kilo of oil.


The Bulgarian rose has unique odor pattern –floral, sweet, spicy, wine, and rose.


The oil is used in creation of high valued fine fragrances as it is highly expensive.


It is used up to 4 % in the fragrance concentrates and 15 ppm in the flavor formulations.


The estimated world production of Rose Damascena oil is about 50 tons.


The chemical composition [in %] of the oil is as follows;


Citronellol- 25-38


Citronellyl acetate- 0.2-0.7


Citronellyl formate- 0.1-0.5


Eugenol- 0.6-1.5


Farnesol- 1-2


Geraniol- 12-16


Nerol- 5-9


Geranyl acetate- 0.5-1


Geranyl formate- 0.1-0.2


Linalool- 2-4


Methyl isoeugenol- 1.5-2


Phenyl ethyl alcohol- 0.2-2


Rose oxide- 0.3-1.5


Alpha-Terpineol- 0.6-1


4-Terpinenol- 0.4-0.6


Methyl heptenone- 0.4-0.5


Humulene-0.2-0.4


Hexanol- 0.2-0.4


Guaiene- 0.5-0.7


Eudesmol- 0.1-0.5


Guaiene- 0.2-1


Humulene- 0.2-0.4


Caryophyllene- 0.2-0.6


Phenyl ethyl acetate- 0.2-0.4


Citral-0.2-1


Higher hydrocarbons[ Pentadecane,Tetradecane,Hexadecane,Heptadecane,Octadecane,Nonadecane,Eicosane,Heneicosane,Docosane,Tricosane,Tetracosane,etc]-1-15


The minor components below 0.1 % are Alpha-pinene, Sabinene, Beta-pinene, Myrcene, Ocimene, Decanal, Nonanal, Rosefuran, Hexanal, Heptanal, Limonene, Nerol, Sabinene, Nerol oxide, Phenyl ethyl dodecanoate, Ethyl hexadecanoate, Guaiol, Cadinene, Cadinol, Valerianol, Elemol, Damascone-beta, Damascenone, Damascone-alpha, Neryl acetate, Terpinyl acetate, Methyl geranate, Cis-3-hexenol, etc.


The minor components like Damascones ,Ocimene,Aldehydes,Rosefuran,etc contribute a lot to the fragrance of the oil,hence play a major role in deciding the quality of the oil.

About the author:
Prashantkumar Kudli Shrinivas has a vast industrial experience of Aroma chemicals,Essential oils,Perfumery and Flavour formulations.

E-mail: prashantkudli@yahoo.co.in


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