Spices are one of the natural raw materials used in the perfume industry. There are two categories: fresh spices and hot spices. Fresh spices mainly act as top notes in the fragrance, and warm spices mainly develop as a heart and base.

Refreshing spices

The following are the most important fresh spices used in the perfume industry:

• cardamom
• coriander seeds
• pink pepper
• Timut pepper (Timor)
• ginger
• Juniper berries

Cardamom ( Cardamom )

It is a herbaceous plant native to southern India. Cardamom belongs to the same botanical family as ginger and turmeric. It grows wild in moist forests and mountains. It is also found in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tanzania and Central America. There are different types of green and black cardamom.

The cardamom tree can reach a height of 3 meters and has beautiful green leaves, in which there are small grains that contain the famous aromatic seeds inside them and then they are dried, and by distilling these grains we get cardamom oil, which is used in the perfume industry, and it is an expensive spice, as it requires Its production takes a very large amount of labour.

Cardamom health benefits

Cardamom seeds are proven effective in Ayurvedic medicine (traditional Indian medicine) and act as a powerful tonic that can improve digestion and soothe nausea and kidney pain.

Cardamom seeds are also used to flavor coffee (especially in Arab countries) and in cooking.

Coriander seeds

The coriander plant, whose scientific name is (Coriandrum sativum), is native to the Middle East, as well as in Europe and Russia. This herb is found with beautiful foliage, small flowers, and large round fruits. All parts of this plant are edible, including leaves, seeds, and roots.

History of coriander and its olfactory description

Traces of coriander have been found in the tombs of the pharaohs. In the Middle Ages, it was also used to ward off demons by throwing handfuls of spice into a fire. Charlemagne cherished it for its germicidal functions.

The smell of coriander is close to the smell of citrus fruits: it is very refreshing, lemony in features, and bears some camphor facet. The olfactory suggestion of the smell may differ between the parts of this plant at the time of oil extraction from it, whether the seeds or leaves.

Pink pepper or pink berries

Pink pepper (its botanical name Schimus Molle) comes from South America and was introduced to Mauritius in the 19th century. It is a pepper with distinctive qualities and is widely used in perfumery as a scent for the top notes. It gives its freshness and spice, and is obtained by distillation or extraction using carbon dioxide in perfumery, this spice is used in many fragrances, and its aroma goes great with citruses.

Timut pepper

Recently added to the aromatic libraries of perfumers, this pepper from Nepal has hints of grapefruit, a cousin of the Sichuan pepper.

Ginger _

Highly valued for hundreds of years, this spice was discovered by Marco Polo in China. It is the root of a large tropical plant. It is sometimes considered a powerful aphrodisiac.

It is composed, fresh, citrusy in some of its qualities, moist, and spicy, which can sometimes give the fragrance soapy notes. There are different qualities depending on the extraction process: either by classical distillation, by molecular distillation, or by carbon dioxide distillation.

Juniper berries

It is also called (Juniperus communis) of the plant family (Cupressaceae), and juniper berries are the fruit of the juniper tree, which is a tree native to the Mediterranean region, although it is widespread in Eastern Europe as well. It grows spontaneously on scarce and dry soils, forming shrubs with barbed needles Its fruits are used in the perfume industry once they are distilled.

The history of the juniper tree

It was common to plant juniper trees near homes in some parts of Europe, as they were believed to have a protective role (the ability to ward off diseases as well as evil spirits, snakes, and witches).

Olfactory description

It is from the coniferous family with a terpene olfactory character (a woody scent with spicy features similar to the smell of Vicks), juniper contains small black berries that carry a coniferous scent with a spicy flavor with peppery features.

Hot spices

The following are the most important hot spices used in the perfume industry:

• Nutmeg and mace (its shell) (Nutmeg)
• Cinnamon bark
• Pepper
• Saffron
• Pepper berries

Nutmeg

The fruit of the nutmeg tree is round, pale yellow, with red or green stripes. When this fruit reaches maturity, it opens and the nut is oval, brown, dense, with an oily consistency.

This nut is protected by a membrane called macis, and this membrane can be used because it contains aromatics (which Eugenol releases through the essential oil).

The history of nutmeg

Pliny the Great spoke of a tree from which spices could be extracted, the nutmeg and mace (in some ways the 'umbilical cord' of nutmeg), was flavoring wine with nutmeg in the 12th century, and for a long time its cultivation was the preserve of the Dutch in the Moluccan Islands. According to an old saying, stealing a nutmeg means dying before it is planted!! During the colonial period around 1800, France seized Dutch treasures, so nutmeg was sent to tropical British colonies, where, thanks to Pierre Poivre, they learned how to grow this spice. Nutmeg is often associated with love and beauty.

Growing and harvesting nutmeg

Nutmeg is a member of the Myricaceae family, a tropical tree that can reach 7 meters in height and can be easily found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the Moluccan Islands and the West Indies. It takes seven years to get a harvest, and you need 5 kg of nutmeg to get 1 kg of mace. These fruits are harvested three times a year (when they crystallize or ripen and form directly and it is not necessary to wait for them to fall naturally).

Nutmeg properties

This spice has great virtues in digestion and epilepsy or is used as an antiseptic. It is one of the famous "four spices" used in cooking to add flavor to a dish. It also has a strong effect and is sometimes used as a medicine, because it is easily accessible and inexpensive.

During the Renaissance, Jean Fernel was convinced that nutmeg was a powerful stimulant for body and mind, until the 18th century, 24 preparations of nutmeg were listed in the Codex Alimentarius (1758) by Pharmacists.

Eugenol, methyl eugenol, and iso-eugenol are molecules found in cloves and nutmeg. All of these molecules have a limit on use or even some are banned by IFRA regulations. The molecules are also found naturally in aromatic essences of ylang-ylang and rose.

cinnamon

A plant of the Lauraceae family, the Ceylon cinnamon tree is 10 to 15 meters high. Its bark (the shell) is harvested in the rainy season to produce the spice. Cinnamon is grown mainly in Sri Lanka, Seychelles, and Madagascar. The cinnamon tree in Sri Lanka is also the most prized species due to its soft and sweet character.

Cinnamon history

Cinnamon is one of the oldest spices in history, as it was used in the period of 5000 years BC in China, and it was considered more valuable than gold, as this information was found mentioned about cinnamon in the Bible.

Raw material processing

Cinnamon extract is obtained by steam distillation of the bark (the bark), which produces a clear, dark red liquid. It is also possible to make an essential oil from the leaves, obtaining a spicy scent reminiscent of eugenol (the base material for cloves).

Olfactory labeling

Cinnamon is spicy and balsamic, very woody, slightly sweet, vanilla, sometimes honeyed, warm, strong and close to clove. Cinnamon is lively and adds a sensual character to the scent.

Use cinnamon

Cinnamon is also used sometimes to recreate some floral features, such as rose, lily-of-the-valley, and carnation. It can also be used to enhance certain notes (balsamic notes) in fougères or oriental perfumes, it can be used as a heart note (often a distinctive link with the base notes).

Cinnamon properties

Cinnamon contains antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory properties that can prevent or reduce arthritis and cardiovascular disease. Cinnamon is rich in cinnamic aldehyde, which acts as a powerful antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic. In addition, cinnamon helps stimulate the immune system.

Pepper

Types of pepper, whether black, white or green, are all different varieties, but they are different degrees of maturity, as all these grains come from the same tree: (Piper Nigrum), bearing in mind that the consumption of pepper now is equivalent to the consumption of all other spices combined, and the pepper component is used on a large scale in the manufacture perfumes.

saffron

It is the most expensive spice in the world and is called red gold. Its use is very limited in the perfume industry, and it is even prohibited because it contains safrol , which is an allergen. An alternative is usually used called saffronal . It gives off a very strong leathery scent, especially noticeable in oud-based perfumes as well as oriental perfumes.

peppercorns

It is a raw material that comes from the West Indies, mostly Jamaica as well and the leaves are extracted by distillation to give 'chili leaf'. The berries are then extracted to obtain an oil called raspberry pepper, which has a spicy, warm, and complex aroma, a mixture of nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon.

Other spices

There are a few secret spices used in perfumery:

• Caraway, and this ingredient requires deep mastery on the part of perfumers because it is difficult to understand and deal with the component.
• Cumin, a type of spice that adds some animalistic qualities to a (dirty) perfume or sweating smell.
• Clove, an ingredient used in perfumes in the past.