One of the most remarkable things I learnt this week is about an organic compound called Indole.
The topic came up randomly on X through a Business Insider video titled, "Why is Jasmine Oil so Expensive?". A firm in Tamil Nadu was being featured for being one of the largest exporters of Jasmine oil in the world.
While it is interesting to know the kind of effort that goes into the extraction process (about 5000 hand-plucked jasmine buds in 1kg; and 1000kg of buds to extract 1kg of jasmine oil costing over $5000!), what struck me is a somewhat quirky fact - you get the amazing fragrance of Jasmine only when the oil is around 2% concentration. Once you exceed this concentration the same oil first smells like rotten leaves, and then like shit!
This is because of one key ingredient in Jasmine oil - Indole - which is found in faeces in higher concentrations.
So the trick is to capture the fragrance at the right moment, which is soon after the Jasmine sambac flowers bloom, and then to blend and dilute it in such a way that you get perfumes such as Doir's J'Adore fragrance.
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REFERENCES & LINKS
* Business Insider - https://youtu.be/Rt16uOqImI0
* M.Hainey - Perfume Design - https://www.mizubrand.com/blogs/news/the-story-of-indole-in-natural-perfumery-white-florals
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