Basil, originally from India, but thoroughly familiar to Theophrastus and Dioscurides, is a half-hardy annual plant, best known as a culinary herb prominently featured in Italian cuisine, and also plays a major role in the cuisine of Taiwan and the Southeast Asian cuisines of Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Depending on the species and cultivar, the leaves may taste somewhat like anise, with a strong, pungent, often sweet smell.

There are many varieties of Ocimum basilicum, as well as several related species or species hybrids also called basil. The type used in Italian food is typically called sweet basil, as opposed to Thai basil (O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora), lemon basil (O. × citriodorum) and holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum), which are used in Asia. While most common varieties of basil are treated as annuals, some are perennial in warm, tropical climates, including holy basil and a cultivar known as ‘African Blue’.

Basil is originally native to India and other tropical regions of Asia, having been cultivated there for more than 5,000 years.

The word basil comes from the Greek βασιλεύς (basileus), meaning “king”, as it has come to be associated with the Feast of the Cross commemorating the finding of the True Cross by St Helena mother of the emperor St. Constantine.  Alternatively the herbalist John Gerard noted of basil that those stung by scorpions would feel no pain if they ate of basil.and Nicholas Culpeper notes of basil that it is “an herb of Mars and under the Scorpion, and therefore called Basilicon”, relating it to basilisk. The Oxford English Dictionary quotes speculations that basil may have been used in “some royal unguent, bath, or medicine”. Basil is still considered the “king of herbs” by many cookery authors.

Basil is commonly used fresh in cooked recipes. In general, it is added at the last moment, as cooking quickly destroys the flavor. The fresh herb can be kept for a short time in plastic bags in the refrigerator, or for a longer period in the freezer, after being blanched quickly in boiling water. The dried herb also loses most of its flavor, and what little flavor remains tastes very different, with a weak coumarin flavor, like hay.

Basil is one of the main ingredients in pesto—a green Italian oil-and-herb sauce. Its other main ingredients are olive oil, garlic, and pine nuts.

The most commonly used Mediterranean basil cultivars are “Genovese”, “Purple Ruffles”, “Mammoth”, “Cinnamon”, “Lemon”, “Globe”, and “African Blue”. The Chinese also use fresh or dried basils in soups and other foods. In Taiwan, people add fresh basil leaves to thick soups (Chinese: 羹湯; pinyin: gēngtāng). They also eat fried chicken with deep-fried basil leaves. Basil (most commonly Thai basil) is commonly steeped in cream or milk to create an interesting flavor in ice cream or chocolates (such as truffles). The leaves are not the only part of basil used in culinary applications, the flower buds have a more subtle flavor and they are edible.

Thai basil is also a condiment in the Vietnamese noodle soup, phở.

When soaked in water, the seeds of several basil varieties become gelatinous, and are used in Asian drinks and desserts such as faluda, sherbet or hột é.

Basil is used for their medicinal properties in Ayurveda, the traditional medicinal system of India and Siddha medicine, a traditional Tamil system of medicine. They are also used as drinks in Southeast Asia.

Several other basils, including some other Ocimum species, are grown in many regions of Asia. Most of the Asian basils have a clove-like flavor that is, in general, stronger than the Mediterranean basils. The most notable is the holy basil or tulsi, a revered home-grown plant in India and Nepal. In China, the local cultivar is called (Chinese: 九層塔; pinyin: jiǔ céng tǎ; literally “nine-level pagoda”), while the imported varieties are called (Chinese: 羅勒; pinyin: luó lè) or (Chinese: 巴西里; pinyin: bā xī lǐ), although [巴西里] often refers to a different plant—parsley.

Lemon basil has a strong lemony smell and flavor very different from those of other varieties because it contains a chemical called citral. It is widely used in Indonesia, where it is called kemangi and served raw, together with raw cabbage, green beans, and cucumber, as an accompaniment to fried fish or duck. Its flowers, when broken up, are a zesty salad condiment.

Holy Basil

The various basils have such different scents because the herb has a number of different essential oils that come together in different proportions for various breeds. The strong clove scent of sweet basil is derived from eugenol, the same chemical as actual cloves.  The citrus scent of lemon basil and lime basil reflects their higher portion of citral, which causes this effect in several plants including lemon mint, and of limonene, which gives actual lemon peel its scent. African blue basil has a strong camphor smell because it contains camphor and camphene in higher proportions. Licorice basil contains anethole, the same chemical that makes anise smell like licorice, and in fact is sometimes called “anise basil.”

Other chemicals that help to produce the distinctive scents of many basils, depending on their proportion in each specific breed, include:

• citronellol (scented geraniums, roses, and citronella)
  
• linalool (a flowery scent also in coriander)
• myrcene (bay leaf, myrcia)
• pinene (which is, as the name implies, the chemical that gives pine oil its scent)
• ocimene
• terpineol
• linalyl acetate
• fenchyl acetate
• trans-ocimene
• 1,8-cineole
• camphor octanane
• methyl eugenol
• eugenol
• beta-caryophyllene

Based on chemical content, basils can be divided into four groups:

1. French; Ocimum basilicum, contains lower amounts of phenols
2. exotic; contains methyl chavicol (40-80%)
3. methyl cinnamate – ether 90%
4. eugenol

Basil and oregano contain large amounts of (E)-beta-caryophyllene (BCP), which might have a use in treating inflammatory bowel diseases and arthritis. BCP is the only product identified in nature that activates CB2 selectively; it interacts with one of two cannabinoid receptors (CB2), blocking chemical signals that lead to inflammation, without triggering cannabis’s mood-altering effects.

Aroma Profiles:

• 1,8-cineole
• Bergamotene
• Eugenol
• Linalool
• Methyl chavicol
• Methyl cinnamate
• Methyl eugenol
• Phenylpropanoids
• trans-β-Ocimene

Most culinary and ornamental basils are cultivars of the species Ocimum basilicum, but other species are also grown and there are many hybrids between species. Traditionally a green plant, some varieties, such as ‘Purple Delight’ have leaves that appear purple.

Basil grows between 30–130 cm tall, with opposite, light green, silky leaves 3–11 cm long and 1–6 cm broad. The flowers are small, white in color and arranged in a terminal spike. Unusual among Lamiaceae, the four stamens and the pistil are not pushed under the upper lip of the corolla, but lie over the inferior lip. After entomophilous pollination, the corolla falls off and four round achenes develop inside the bilabiate calyx.

Basil is very sensitive to cold, with best growth in hot, dry conditions. It behaves as an annual if there is any chance of a frost. In Northern Europe, Canada, the northern states of the U.S., and the South Island of New Zealand it will grow best if sown under glass in a peat pot, then planted out in late spring/early summer (when there is little chance of a frost).  Additionally, it may be sown in soil once chance of frost is past. It fares best in a well-drained sunny spot.

Although basil grows best outdoors, it can be grown indoors in a pot and, like most herbs, will do best on an equator-facing windowsill. It should be kept away from extremely cold drafts, and grows best in strong sunlight, therefore a greenhouse or row cover is ideal if available. They can, however, be grown even in a basement, under fluorescent lights.

If its leaves have wilted from lack of water, it will recover if watered thoroughly and placed in a sunny location. Yellow leaves towards the bottom of the plant are an indication that the plant has been stressed; usually this means that it needs less water, or less or more fertilizer.

In sunnier climates such as Southern Europe, the southern states of the U.S., the North Island of New Zealand, and Australia, basil will thrive when planted outside. It also thrives over the summertime in the central and northern United States, but dies out when temperatures reach freezing point. It will grow back the next year if allowed to go to seed. It will need regular watering, but not as much attention as is needed in other climates.

Basil can also be propagated very reliably from cuttings with the stems of short cuttings suspended for two weeks or so in water until roots develop.

Once a stem produces flowers, foliage production stops on that stem, the stem becomes woody, and essential oil production declines. To prevent this, a basil-grower may pinch off any flower stems before they are fully mature. Because only the blooming stem is so affected, some stems can be pinched for leaf production, while others are left to bloom for decoration or seeds.

Once the plant is allowed to flower, it may produce seed pods containing small black seeds, which can be saved and planted the following year. Picking the leaves off the plant helps “promote growth”, largely because the plant responds by converting pairs of leaflets next to the topmost leaves into new stems.

In double-blinded taste tests, basil has been found to not affect significantly the taste of tomatoes when planted adjacent to them.

Basil suffers from several plant pathogens that can ruin the crop and reduce yield. Fusarium wilt is a soil-borne fungal disease that will quickly kill younger basil plants. Seedlings may also be killed by Pythium damping off.

A common foliar disease of basil is gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea; it can also cause infections post-harvest and is capable of killing the entire plant. Black spot can also be seen on basil foliage and is caused by the fungi genus Colletotrichum.

More recently, downy mildew of basil caused by Peronospora belbahrii has been a huge problem for both commercial producers and home growers. The disease was first reported in Italy in 2004, was reported in the U.S. in 2007 and 2008 and has been steadily increasing in prevalence, distribution, and economic importance since then.

Recently, there has been much research into the health benefits conferred by the essential oils found in basil. Scientific studies in vitro have established that compounds in basil oil have potent antioxidant, antiviral, and antimicrobial properties, and potential for use in treating cancer.  In addition, basil has been shown to decrease the occurrence of platelet aggregation and experimental thrombus in mice.  It is traditionally used for supplementary treatment of stress, asthma and diabetes in India.  In Siddha medicine, it is used for treating pimples on the face, but noted that intake of the seeds in large quantities is harmful for the brain.

Basil, like other aromatic plants such as fennel and tarragon, contains estragole, a known carcinogen and teratogen in rats and mice. While human effects are currently unstudied, extrapolation using body weight from the rodent experiments indicates that 100–1000 times the normal anticipated exposure still probably produces a minimal cancer risk.

There are many rituals and beliefs associated with basil. The French sometimes call basil “l’herbe royale“, while in Welsh it has the synonymous name “brenhinllys“.  Jewish folklore suggests it adds strength while fasting.  In Portugal, dwarf bush basil is traditionally presented in a pot, together with a poem and a pom-pon, to a sweetheart, on the religious holidays of Saint John and Saint Anthony. However, basil represented hatred in ancient Greece, and European lore sometimes claims that basil is a symbol of Satan^.   African legend claims that basil protects against scorpions, while the English botanist Culpeper cites one “Hilarius, a French physician” as affirming it as common knowledge that smelling basil too much would breed scorpions in the brain.

Holy basil, also called tulsi, is highly revered in Hinduism. It is believed that the herb was found growing on the original cross of Christ when it was discovered by the Empress Helena, and hence basil has religious significance in the Greek Orthodox Church, where it is used to sprinkle holy water.  The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church, Macedonian Orthodox Church and Romanian Orthodox Church use basil (Bulgarian and Macedonian: босилек; Romanian: busuioc, Serbian: босиљак) to prepare holy water and pots of basil are often placed below church altars.

In Europe, basil is placed in the hands of the dead to ensure a safe journey.  In India, they place it in the mouth of the dying to ensure they reach God.  The ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks believed it would open the gates of heaven for a person passing on.

In Boccaccio’s Decameron a memorably morbid tale (novella V) tells of Lisabetta, whose brothers slay her lover. He appears to her in a dream and shows her where he is buried. She secretly disinters the head, and sets it in a pot of basil, which she waters with her daily tears. The pot being taken from her by her brothers, she dies of her grief not long after. Boccaccio’s tale is the source of John Keats’ poem Isabella or The Pot of Basil – which in turn inspired the paintings Isabella (Millais painting) and Isabella and the Pot of Basil. A similar story is told of the Longobard queen, Rosalind.

A study of the essential oil showed antifungal and insect-repelling properties.A similar study reported in 2009 has confirmed that extracts from the plant are very toxic to mosquitos.  However, the plant is not toxic to rats.  Little information is available about any potential toxicity in humans.

(info and pictures via Wikipedia)

Sweet Basil, chemotype linalol, essential oil (Ocimum basilicum)  is a clear to pale yellow liquid displaying a soft, rich, green, sweet spicy-herbaceous odor with a delicate balsamic undertone of good tenacity.

In natural perfumery used in chypre, green accords, culinary perfumes, herbal bouquet, sacred perfumes.

“In perfumes, Sweet Basil oil has ben a ‘classic’ material in the ‘Origan’ type of perfumesand bases for several decades. IN chypres, crepe de chines and certain modern aldehydic and ‘green’ perfume types, the oil can introduce very interesting notes” Steffen Arctander.

Holy Basil essential oil (Ocimum sanctum) is a clear white liquid displaying a soft, sweet, green, spicy-herbaceous bouquet with a fine balsamic, woody undertone. Tenacity is very good.

In natural perfumery is used in fougere, chypre, herbal bouquets, spice accords, sacred perfumes, garland essences,

Basil absolute (Ocimum basilicum) is an olive green liquid displaying a deep, sweet, smooth, warm, green herbaceous, spicy bouquet with a rich balsamic undertone with fine tenacity In natural perfumery it is used in herbal bouquets, colognes, chypres, sacred perfumes,fougere, culinary perfumes, literary creations and floral notes(violet, tea rose, lotus, orchid, jonquil, narcissus, freesia, frangipani, cassie, frangipani, champa,tuberose and mimosa)

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

The exact native range is disputed; some sources cite it as native to much of Europe and southwestern Asia, others from only the eastern Mediterranean region in southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, and yet others only to southwestern Asia in Iran and Afghanistan, citing European populations as naturalised.  It has been long cultivated in Europe, the leaves being used as a herb, the roots as a vegetable, and the seeds as a spice, especially in southern European cuisine.

Lovage is an erect, herbaceous, perennial plant growing to 1.8–2.5 m tall, with a basal rosette of leaves and stems with further leaves, the flowers being produced in umbels at the top of the stems. The stems and leaves are shiny glabrous green to yellow-green. The larger basal leaves are up to 70 cm long, tripinnate, with broad triangular to rhomboidal, acutely pointed leaflets with a few marginal teeth; the stem leaves are smaller, and less divided with few leaflets. The flowers are yellow to greenish-yellow, 2–3 mm diameter, produced in globose umbels up to 10–15 cm diameter; flowering is in late spring. The fruit is a dry two-parted schizocarp 4–7 mm long, mature in autumn.

The leaves can be used in salads, or to make soup, and the roots can be eaten as a vegetable or grated for use in salads. Its flavor and smell is very similar to celery. Lovage tea can be applied to wounds as an antiseptic, or drunk to stimulate digestion. The seeds can be used as a spice, similar to fennel seeds.  In the UK, an alcoholic lovage cordial is traditionally mixed with brandy in the ratio of 2:1 as a winter drink.  Lovage is third in its quercetin content, behind tea and capers .

The roots, which contain a heavy, volatile oil, are used as a mild aquaretic. Lovage root contains furanocoumarins which can lead to photosensitivity.

The name ‘lovage’ is from “love-ache”, ache being a medieval name for parsley; this is a folk-etymological corruption of the older French name levesche, from late Latin levisticum, in turn thought to be a corruption of the earlier Latin ligusticum, “of Liguria” (northwest Italy), where the herb was grown extensively.  In modern botanical usage, both Latin forms are now used, for different, but closely related genera, with Levisticum for (culinary) lovage, and Ligusticum for Scots lovage, a similar species from northern Europe, and related species.  In Germany and Holland, one of the common names of lovage is Maggikraut (German) or Maggiplant (Dutch) because the plant’s taste is reminiscent of Maggi soup seasoning. Italian levistico, French livèche, Romanian leuştean, Hungarian lestyán, Russian любисток lyubistok, etc. In Bulgaria, it is known as девесил deveseel. The Czech name is libeček, and the Polish name is lubczyk, both meaning ‘love herb’. The name in Swedish is libbsticka. The official German name is Liebstöckel, literally ‘love sticklet’.  The Croatian name for this plant is ljupčac or vegeta (named after a well known Croatian meal seasoning similar to Maggi); the Finnish name is “Liperi” or “Lipstikka”, the former meaning preachers collar, because in old ages the plat was cultivated in monasteries or in rectories, while the latter is from Swedish, which is the second language spoken in Finland.

(info and pictures via Wikipedia)

Lovage Root Absolute is extracted from the roots of Levisticum officinale. The main center for growing the roots is in central and south Europe. The roots are generally sent to France for extraction.

The absolute is a viscous dark brown or dark amber liquid displaying a warm, rich, sweet, spicy, rooty odor with a with a precious woods, coumarinic, slightly musky undertone.

In perfumery it is appreciated for the unique effects it creates in tiny amounts. It creates a warm background in oriental creations, spicy bases, and fougere bouquets. Would be a great addition to period perfumes that endeavor to capture the odor of old-time apothecary shops and drugstores. Its spicy notes can be used very effectively in carnation and rose bases.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics)

S. sclarea reaches 3 to 4 ft (0.91 to 1.2 m) in height, with thick square stems that are covered in hairs. The leaves are approximately 1 ft (0.30 m) long at the base, .5 ft (0.15 m) long higher on the plant. The upper leaf surface is rugose, and covered with glandular hairs. The flowers are in verticils, with 2-6 flowers in each verticil, and are held in large colorful bracts that range in color from pale mauve to lilac or white to pink with a pink mark on the edge. The lilac or pale blue corolla is approximately 1 in (2.5 cm), with the lips held wide open.  The cultivar S. sclarea ‘Turkestanica’ bears pink stems, petiolate leaves, and white, pink-flecked blossoms on spikes to 30 inches tall (75 cm).

Descriptions of medicinal use of the plant goes back to the writings of Theophrastus (4th century BCE), Dioscorides (1st century CE), and Pliny the Elder (1st century CE).

Clary seeds have a mucilaginous coat, which is why some old herbals recommended placing a seed into the eye of someone with a foreign object in it so that it could adhere to the object and make it easy to remove. This practice is noted by Nicholas Culpeper in his Complete Herbal (1653), who referred to the plant as “clear-eye”.

The distilled essential oil is used widely in perfumes and as a muscatel flavoring for vermouths, wines, and liqueurs.  It is also used in aromatherapy for relieving anxiety and fear, menstrual-related problems such as PMS and cramping, and helping with insomnia.

(info and pictures via Wikipedia)

Clary sage essential oil (Salvia sclarea) is a colorless to pale yellow or pale olive liquid displaying a rich sweet, herbaceous bouquet with an ambery-resinous undertone of good tenacity.

In natural perfumery it is used in chypre, fougere, Oriental accords, amber bases, herbal perfumes.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

All juniper species grow berries, but some are considered too bitter to eat. In addition to J. communis, other edible species include Juniperus drupacea, Juniperus phoenicea, Juniperus deppeana, and Juniperus californica.  Some species, for example Juniperus sabina, are toxic and consumption is inadvisable.

Juniperus communis berries vary from four to twelve millimeters in diameter; other species are mostly similar in size, though some are larger, notably J. drupacea (20–28 mm). Unlike the separated and woody scales of a typical pine cone, those in a juniper berry remain fleshy and merge into a unified covering surrounding the seeds. The berries are green when young, and mature to a purple-black colour over about 18 months in most species, including J. communis (shorter, 8–10 months in a few species, and about 24 months in J. drupacea).  The mature, dark berries are usually but not exclusively used in cuisine, while gin is flavoured with fully grown but immature green berries.

The flavour profile of young, green berries is dominated by pinene; as they mature this piney, resinous backdrop is joined by what McGee describes as “green-fresh” and citrus notes.  The outer scales of the berries are relatively flavourless, so the berries are almost always at least lightly crushed before being used as a spice. They are used both fresh and dried, but their flavour and odour is at their strongest immediately after harvest and decline during drying and storage.

Juniper berries are used in northern European and particularly Scandinavian cuisine to “impart a sharp, clear flavour” to meat dishes, especially wild birds (including thrush, blackbird, and woodcock) and game meats (including boar and venison).  They also season pork, cabbage, and sauerkraut dishes. Traditional recipes for choucroute garnie, an Alsatian dish of sauerkraut and meats, universally include juniper berries.  Besides Norwegian and Swedish dishes, juniper berries are also sometimes used in German, Austrian, Czech, Polish and Hungarian cuisine, often with roasts (such as German sauerbraten). Northern Italian cuisine, especially that of the South Tyrol, also incorporates juniper berries.

Juniper, typically Juniperus communis, is used to flavor gin, a liquor developed in the 17th century in the Netherlands. Recently, some American distilleries have begun using ‘New World’ varieties of juniper such as Juniperus occidentalis.  It was first intended as a medication since juniper berries are a diuretic and were also thought to be an appetite stimulant and a remedy for rheumatism and arthritis. Western American Native Tribes are also reported to have used the juniper berry as an appetite suppressant in times of hunger and/or famine. Currently, the juniper berry is being researched as a possible treatment for diet-controlled diabetes, as it releases insulin from the pancreas (hence alleviating hunger). It is also said to have been used by some tribes as a female contraceptive. The name gin itself is derived from either the French genièvre or the Dutch jenever, which both mean “juniper”.  Other juniper-flavoured beverages include the Finnish rye-and-juniper beer known as sahti, which is flavoured with both juniper berries and branches.  The brand DRY Soda produces a juniper berry soda as part of its lineup.

A few North American juniper species produce a seed cone with a sweeter, less resinous flavour than those typically used as a spice. For example, one field guide describes the flesh of the berries of Juniperus californica as “dry, mealy, and fibrous but sweet and without resin cells”.  Such species have been used not just as a seasoning but as a nutritive food by some Native Americans.  In addition to medical and culinary purposes, Native Americans have also used the seeds inside juniper berries as beads for jewellery and decoration.

An essential oil extracted from juniper berries is used in aromatherapy and perfumery.  The essential oil can be distilled out of berries which have already been used to flavour gin.

Juniper berries have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, including Juniperus phoenicia and Juniperus oxycedrus at multiple sites. The latter is not known to grow in Egypt, and neither is Juniperus excelsa, which was found along with J. oxycedrus in the tomb of Tutankhamun.  The berries imported into Egypt may have come from Greece; the Greeks record using juniper berries as a medicine long before mentioning their use in food.  The Greeks used the berries in many of their Olympics events because of their belief that the berries increased physical stamina in athletes.  The Romans used juniper berries as a cheap domestically-produced substitute for the expensive black pepper and long pepper imported from India.  It was also used as an adulterant, as reported in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History: “Pepper is adulterated with juniper berries, which have the property, to a marvellous degree, of assuming the pungency of pepper.”  Pliny also incorrectly asserted that black pepper grew on trees that were “very similar in appearance to our junipers”.

(info and pictures via Wikipedia)

Juniper berry essential oil is a water white to pale yellow liquid displaying a fresh, sweet, warm, resinous-balsamic bouquet with a coniferous woody undertone

In natural perfumery it is used for conifer accords, forest notes, amber bases, fougere, sacred perfume, incense bouquets, chypres, after-shave lotions, colognes, spice accords

“Juniper berry oil is used in perfumery for its fresh-balsamic notes, as a modifier for various pine needle oils(with which it blends very well) with citrus oils in room spray perfumes, in ambres, fougeres, after-shave fragrances, spice compositions, etc. Labdanum absolute is an excellent fixative for juniper berry oil.” Steffen Arctander

Juniper Berry co2 select extract is a viscous a viscous yellow liquid displaying an immensely rich, sweet, green, resinous bouquet with fine woody, balsamic undertone of fine tenacity.

In natural perfumery it is used in forest notes, chypre,  fougere, incense bouquets, sacred perfumes, amber bases, colognes, spice accords.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

The trunks of Amyris species exude elemi, a type of balsam (oleoresin) that contains elemic acids, liquid sesquiterpenes, and triterpenes such as α- and β-amyrin among other components.  It is used medicinally and in lacquers. The wood is often used for torches and firewood. Its high resin content causes it to burn brightly, and it will burn well even when green. In addition, the wood is hard, heavy, close-grained, can take a high polish, and repels dry wood termites. Essential oils containing caryophyllene, cadinene, and cadinol are extracted from A. balsamifera and A. elemifera. These are used in varnishes, perfumes, medicines, cosmetics, soaps, and incense.

Chemical compounds known as chromenylated amides isolated from Amyris plumieri have shown some inhibition of the cytochrome P450 enzymes.

(info and pictures via Wikipedia)

The essential oil of Amyris (Amyris balsamifera) is a light colored viscous liquid displaying a soft, sweet, slightly resinous bouquet with a woody-balsamic undertone.
As noted by Steffen Arctander the odor of the oil varies according to the age of the oil and the age of the wood on distillation

In natural perfumery can be used as a low cost fixative, blender and modifier in almost any type of composition. Does an excellent job of rounding off rough edges in perfume compositions because of its mild, soft, sweet odor which has good tenacity.

Amyris has a woody balsamic odor somewhat reminiscent of sandalwood but without sandalwoods subtle complexity. It is somewhat like lavindins relationship to lavender. But it can serve many useful purposes in cosmetics, soaps and perfume blends due to its mild woody-balsamic odor and its smooth soft texture.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

The sweet scent of this flower has proved popular throughout the generations particularly in the late Victorian period, and has consequently been used in the production of many cosmetic fragrances and perfumes.  The French are also known for their violet syrup, most commonly made from an extract of violets. In the United States, this French violet syrup is used to make violet scones and marshmallows. The scent of violet flowers is distinctive with only a few other flowers having a remotely similar odour. References to violets and the desirable nature of the fragrance go back to classical sources such as Pliny and Horace when the name ‘Ion’ was in use to describe this flower from which the name of the distinctive chemical constituents of the flower, the ionones – is derived. In 1923 Poucher writes that the flowers are widely cultivated both in Europe and the East for their fragrance, with both the flowers and leaves being separately collected and extracted for fragrance, and flowers also collected for use in confectionary and the production of a galenical syrup.

There is some doubt as to whether the true extract of the violet flower is still commercially available at all.  It certainly was in the early 20th Century, but by the time Steffen Arctander was writing in the late 1950s and early 1960s production had “almost disappeared”.

The violet leaf absolute however remains widely used in modern perfumery.

(Info and Pictures via Wikipedia)

Violet leaf absolute (Viola odorata) is a dark green liquid displaying a powerful, green leafy/herbaceous odor with a fine, delicate floral undertone possessing distinct aroma of violet flowers. It has good tenacity and diffusive power

In natural perfumery is used in herbaceous bouquets, floral bases, chypres, literary perfumes, culinary creations, new mown hay.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

Most species of the shrub genus Gaultheria demonstrate this characteristic and are called wintergreens in North America, the most common generally being the Eastern Teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens).

Wintergreen berries, from Gaultheria procumbens, are used medicinally. Native Americans brewed a tea from the leaves to alleviate rheumatic symptoms, headache, fever, sore throat and various aches and pains. During the American Revolution, wintergreen leaves were used as a substitute for tea, which was scarce.

Wintergreen is a common flavoring in American products ranging from root beer, chewing gum, mints and candies to smokeless tobacco such as dipping tobacco (American “dip” snuff) and snus. It is also a common flavoring for dental hygiene products such as mouthwash and toothpaste.

Wintergreen oil can also be used in fine art printing applications to transfer a color photocopy image or color laser print to a high-rag content art paper, such as a hot-press watercolor paper. The transfer method involves coating the source image with the wintergreen oil then placing it face-down on the target paper and pressing the pieces of paper together under pressure using a standard etching press.

Artificial wintergreen oil, called methyl salicylate, is used in microscopy because of its high refractive index.

The Gaultheria species share the common characteristic of producing oil of wintergreen. Wintergreen oil is a pale yellow or pinkish fluid liquid that is strongly aromatic with a sweet woody odor (components: methyl salicylate (approx. 98%), a-pinene, myrcene, delta-3-carene, limonene, 3,7-guaiadiene, delta-cadinene)^[3] that gives such plants a distinctive “medicinal” smell whenever bruised. Salicylate sensitivity is a common adverse reaction to the methyl salicylate in oil of wintergreen; it can produce allergy-like symptoms or asthma.

Wintergreen essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of the leaves of the plant following maceration in warm water. Methyl salicylate, the main chemical constituent of the oil, is not present in the plant until formed by enzymatic action from a glycoside within the leaves as they are macerated in warm water.  Oil of wintergreen is also manufactured from some species of birch, but these deciduous trees are not called wintergreens. Spiraea plants also contain methyl salicylate in large amounts and are used similarly to wintergreen. Although wintergreen has a strong “minty” smell and flavour, Gaultheria plants are not true mints.

Wintergreen oil is used topically (diluted) or aromatheraputically as a folk remedy for muscle and joint discomfort, arthritis, cellulite, obesity, edema, poor circulation, headache, heart disease, hypertension, rheumatism, tendinitis, cramps, inflammation, eczema, hair care, psoriasis, gout, ulcers, broken or bruised bones. The liquid salicylate dissolves into tissue and also into capillaries, so overuse is equally risky as overuse of aspirin. Wintergreen also is used in some perfumery applications and as a flavoring agent for toothpaste, chewing gum and soft drinks, confectionery, in Listerine, and in mint flavorings. One surprising application is rust removal and degreasing of machinery. Wintergreen is particularly effective for breaking through sea water corrosion.

Français : molécule de salicylate de méthyle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

30 mL (about 1 fl oz) of oil of wintergreen is equivalent to 55.7 g of aspirin, or about 171 adult aspirin tablets (US). This conversion illustrates the potency and potential toxicity of oil of wintergreen even in small quantities.

Illiteracy may be a common factor in accidental overdoses and ingestions in adults. Treatment is identical to the other salicylates. Early use of hemodialysis in conjunction with maximal supportive measures is encouraged in any significant ingestion of methyl salicylate.

Strong warning labels are recommended for household salicylate-containing compounds such as oil of wintergreen.

(info and pictures via Wikipedia)

Nepalese wintergreen essential oil (Gaultheria fragrantissima) is a colorless to pale yellow liquid(sometimes reddish in color if distilled in copper vessels) displaying an intensely sweet, minty-herbaceous bouquet with a delicate creamy-woody undertone.

In natural perfumery used in herbal bouquets, room refreshers, apothecary perfumes, aromatherapy blends, fougere and forest notes. In trace amounts can be effective in high class florals like narcissus, ylang, tuberose, lily and gardenia.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

Fabienne Pavia, in her book L’univers des Parfums (1995, ed. Solar), states that in the manufacturing of perfumes using orris, the scent of the iris root differs from that of the flower. After preparation the scent is reminiscent of the smell of violets.

After an initial drying period, which can take five years or more depending on the use, the root is ground. For potpourri, this powder is used without further processing. For other uses, it’s dissolved in water and then distilled. One ton of iris root produces two kilos of essential oil, also referred to as orris root butter, making it a highly prized substance, and its fragrance has been described as tenaciously flowery, heavy and woody (Paraphrasing Pavia, Dutch translation, page 40). Typical iris-perfumes (where the compound of the ingredient prevails over the other components) are: “Orris Noir” by the London based perfume house Ormonde Jayne Perfumery, “Infusion d’iris”(Prada*); “Tumulte”(Christian Lacroix*); “Aqua di Parma”* and “Iris nobile”(Aqua di Parma*); “Irisia”(Creed*); “Y”(Yves Saint Laurent*) and “Vol de nuit”(Guerlain*). The black orris used in Orris Noir is a highly prized oil and the national flower of Jordan.

Orris root is often included as one of the many ingredients of Ras el hanout, a blend of herbs and spices used across the Middle East and North Africa, primarily associated with Moroccan cuisine.

Orris root has been used in tinctures to flavour syrups; its taste is said to be indistinguishable from raspberry.

(info and picture via Wikipedia)

Orris root co2 extract (Iris pallida), 1% irone content, is a viscous but pourable beige liquid. It displays a delicate, warm, sweet-violet floral, precious woods-rooty, powdery odor with a lovely fruity undertone with good tenacity and radiant power.

In natural perfumery is used in amber bases chypre, fougere; forest bases, oriental accords, colognes, in natural re-creations of freesia, orchid, cyclamen, violet, lilac perfumes.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

Black pepper is native to south India, and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions. Currently Vietnam is the world’s largest producer and exporter of pepper, producing 34% of the world’s Piper nigrum crop as of 2008.

Dried ground pepper has been used since antiquity for both its flavour and as a medicine. Black pepper is the world’s most traded spice. It is one of the most common spices added to European cuisine and its descendants. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine. It is ubiquitous in the industrialized world, often paired with table salt.

The word “pepper” is ultimately derived from the Dravidian word for long pepper, pippali.  Ancient Greek and Latin turned pippali into the Latin piper which was used by the Romans to refer both to black pepper and long pepper, as the Romans erroneously believed that both of these spices were derived from the same plant.  The English word for pepper is derived from the Old English pipor. The Latin word is also the source of Italian pepe, Dutch peper, German Pfeffer, French poivre, and other similar forms. In the 16th century, pepper started referring to the unrelated New World chili pepper as well. “Pepper” was used in a figurative sense to mean “spirit” or “energy” at least as far back as the 1840s; in the early 20th century, this was shortened to pep.

Black pepper is produced from the still-green unripe drupes of the pepper plant. The drupes are cooked briefly in hot water, both to clean them and to prepare them for drying. The heat ruptures cell walls in the pepper, speeding the work of browning enzymes during drying. The drupes are dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the pepper around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, wrinkled black layer. Once dried, the spice is called black peppercorn. On some estates, the berries are separated from the stem by hand and then sun dried without the boiling process.

Once the peppercorns are dried, pepper spirit & oil can be extracted from the berries by crushing them. Pepper spirit is used in famous beverages like Coca-Cola and many medicinal and beauty products. Pepper oil is also used as an ayurvedic massage oil and used in certain beauty and herbal treatments.

Pink pepper from Piper nigrum is distinct from the more-common dried “pink peppercorns”, which are actually the fruits of a plant from a different family, the Peruvian pepper tree, Schinus molle, or its relative the Brazilian pepper tree, Schinus terebinthifolius.

The bark of Drimys winteri (Canelo or Winter’s Bark) is used as a substitute for pepper in cold and temperate regions of Chile and Argentina where it is easily available.

In New Zealand the seeds of Kawakawa (Macropiper excelsum), a relative of black pepper, are sometimes used as pepper and the leaves of Pseudowintera colorata (Mountain horopito) are another replacement for pepper.

Peppercorns are often categorised under a label describing their origin. Two types come from India’s Malabar Coast: Malabar pepper and Tellicherry pepper. Tellicherry is a pepper made from fruits from the grafted Malabar plants grown on Mount Tellicherry.  Sarawak pepper native to the Malaysian portion of Borneo.

Lampung pepper is from Indonesia’s island of Sumatra. White Muntok pepper is another Indonesian product. Vietnam pepper comes in white and black pepper and is from Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Chu Se and Binh Phuoc.

The pepper plant is a perennial woody vine growing up to 4 metres (13 ft) in height on supporting trees, poles, or trellises. It is a spreading vine, rooting readily where trailing stems touch the ground. The leaves are alternate, entire, 5 to 10 cm long and 3 to 6 cm across. The flowers are small, produced on pendulous spikes 4 to 8 cm long at the leaf nodes, the spikes lengthening up to 7 to 15 cm as the fruit matures.  The fruit of the black pepper is called a drupe and when dried it is a peppercorn.

Pepper is native to South East Asia and can be grown in soil that is neither too dry nor susceptible to flooding, moist, well-drained and rich in organic matter (the vines do not do too well over an altitude of 3000 ft above sea level). The plants are propagated by cuttings about 40 to 50 centimetres long, tied up to neighbouring trees or climbing frames at distances of about two metres apart; trees with rough bark are favoured over those with smooth bark, as the pepper plants climb rough bark more readily. Competing plants are cleared away, leaving only sufficient trees to provide shade and permit free ventilation. The roots are covered in leaf mulch and manure, and the shoots are trimmed twice a year. On dry soils the young plants require watering every other day during the dry season for the first three years. The plants bear fruit from the fourth or fifth year, and typically continue to bear fruit for seven years. The cuttings are usually cultivars, selected both for yield and quality of fruit.

A single stem will bear 20 to 30 fruiting spikes. The harvest begins as soon as one or two fruits at the base of the spikes begin to turn red, and before the fruit is fully mature, and still hard; if allowed to ripen completely, the fruit lose pungency, and ultimately fall off and are lost. The spikes are collected and spread out to dry in the sun, then the peppercorns are stripped off the spikes.

Black pepper is native to South East Asia.  Within the genus Piper, it is most closely related to other Asian species such as Piper caninum.

Pepper has been used as a spice in India since it was introduced by South East Asia people in prehistory. Pepper is native to South East Asia and has been known to Indian cooking since at least 2 BCE.  J. Innes Miller notes that pepper was grown in southern Thailand and in Malaysia.  Peppercorns were a much-prized trade good, often referred to as “black gold” and used as a form of commodity money. On the other hand, because of a peppercorn’s individual size, the term “peppercorn rent” refers to a token payment made for something that is in fact being given.

The ancient history of black pepper is often interlinked with (and confused with) that of long pepper, the dried fruit of closely related Piper longum. The Romans knew of both and often referred to either as just “piper”. In fact, it was not until the discovery of the New World and of chili peppers that the popularity of long pepper entirely declined. Chile peppers, some of which when dried are similar in shape and taste to long pepper, were easier to grow in a variety of locations more convenient to Europe.

After the English, virtually all of the black pepper found in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa was traded from Malabar region. Before the 16th century, pepper was being grown in Java, Sunda, Sumatra, Madagascar, Malaysia, and everywhere in Southeast Asia, these areas traded mainly with China, or used the pepper locally.  Ports in the Malabar area also served as a stop-off point for much of the trade in other spices from farther east in the Indian Ocean.

Black pepper, along with other spices from Southeast Asia and lands farther east, changed the course of world history. It was in some part the preciousness of these spices that led to the Portuguese efforts to find a sea route to China during the age of discovery and consequently to the Portuguese colonial occupation of that country, as well as the European discovery and colonisation of the Americas.

Black peppercorns were found stuffed in the nostrils of Ramesses II, placed there as part of the mummification rituals shortly after his death in 1213 BCE.  Little else is known about the use of pepper in ancient Egypt and how it reached the Nile from Southeast Asia.

Pepper (both long and black) was known in Greece at least as early as the 4th century BCE, though it was probably an uncommon and expensive item that only the very rich could afford. Trade routes of the time were by land, or in ships which hugged the coastlines of the Arabian Sea. Long pepper, growing in the north-western part of India, was more accessible than the black pepper from further south; this trade advantage, plus long pepper’s greater spiciness, probably made black pepper less popular at the time.

By the time of the early Roman Empire, especially after Rome’s conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE, open-ocean crossing of the Arabian Sea redirect to southern India’s Malabar Coast was near routine. Details of this trading across the Indian Ocean have been passed down in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. According to the Roman geographer Strabo, the early Empire sent a fleet of around 120 ships on an annual one-year trip to China, Southeast Asia, India and back. The fleet timed its travel across the Arabian Sea to take advantage of the predictable monsoon winds. Returning from India, the ships travelled up the Red Sea, from where the cargo was carried overland or via the Nile Canal to the Nile River, barged to Alexandria, and shipped from there to Italy and Rome. The rough geographical outlines of this same trade route would dominate the pepper trade into Europe for a millennium and a half to come.

With ships sailing directly to the Malabar coast, black pepper was now travelling a shorter trade route than long pepper, and the prices reflected it. Pliny the Elder’s Natural History tells us the prices in Rome around 77 CE: “Long pepper … is fifteen denarii per pound, while that of white pepper is seven, and of black, four.” Pliny also complains “there is no year in which India does not drain the Roman Empire of fifty million sesterces,” and further moralises on pepper:

It is quite surprising that the use of pepper has come so much into fashion, seeing that in other substances which we use, it is sometimes their sweetness, and sometimes their appearance that has attracted our notice; whereas, pepper has nothing in it that can plead as a recommendation to either fruit or berry, its only desirable quality being a certain pungency; and yet it is for this that we import it all the way from India! Who was the first to make trial of it as an article of food? and who, I wonder, was the man that was not content to prepare himself by hunger only for the satisfying of a greedy appetite? (N.H. 12.14)

Black pepper was a well-known and widespread, if expensive, seasoning in the Roman Empire. Apicius’ De re coquinaria, a 3rd-century cookbook probably based at least partly on one from the 1st century CE, includes pepper in a majority of its recipes. Edward Gibbon wrote, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, that pepper was “a favourite ingredient of the most expensive Roman cookery”.

Pepper was so valuable that it was often used as collateral or even currency. In the Dutch language, “pepper expensive” (peperduur) is an expression for something very expensive. The taste for pepper (or the appreciation of its monetary value) was passed on to those who would see Rome fall. It is said that Alaric the Visigoth and Attila the Hun each demanded from Rome a ransom of more than a ton of pepper when they besieged the city in 5th century. After the fall of Rome, others took over the middle legs of the spice trade, first the Persians and then the Arabs; Innes Miller cites the account of Cosmas Indicopleustes, who travelled east to India, as proof that “pepper was still being exported from India in the sixth century”.  By the end of the Early Middle Ages, the central portions of the spice trade were firmly under Islamic control. Once into the Mediterranean, the trade was largely monopolised by Italian powers, especially Venice and Genoa. The rise of these city-states was funded in large part by the spice trade.

A riddle authored by Saint Aldhelm, a 7th-century Bishop of Sherborne, sheds some light on black pepper’s role in England at that time:

It is commonly believed that during the Middle Ages, pepper was used to conceal the taste of partially rotten meat. There is no evidence to support this claim, and historians view it as highly unlikely: in the Middle Ages, pepper was a luxury item, affordable only to the wealthy, who certainly had unspoiled meat available as well.  In addition, people of the time certainly knew that eating spoiled food would make them sick. Similarly, the belief that pepper was widely used as a preservative is questionable: it is true that piperine, the compound that gives pepper its spiciness, has some antimicrobial properties, but at the concentrations present when pepper is used as a spice, the effect is small.  Salt is a much more effective preservative, and salt-cured meats were common fare, especially in winter. However, pepper and other spices probably did play a role in improving the taste of long-preserved meats.

Its exorbitant price during the Middle Ages—and the monopoly on the trade held by Italy—was one of the inducements which led the Portuguese to seek a sea route to India. In 1498, Vasco da Gama became the first person to reach India by sailing around Africa (see Age of Discovery); asked by Arabs in Calicut (who spoke Spanish and Italian) why they had come, his representative replied, “we seek Christians and spices”. Though this first trip to India by way of the southern tip of Africa was only a modest success, the Portuguese quickly returned in greater numbers and eventually gained much greater control of trade on the Arabian sea. It was given additional legitimacy (at least from a European imperialistic perspective) by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, which granted Portugal exclusive rights to the half of the world where black pepper originated.

The Portuguese proved unable to maintain their stranglehold on the spice trade for long. The old Arab and Venetian trade networks successfully ‘smuggled’ enormous quantities of spices through the patchy Portuguese blockade, and pepper once again flowed through Alexandria and Italy, as well as around Africa. In the 17th century, the Portuguese lost almost all of their valuable Indian Ocean trade to the Dutch and the English who, taking advantage from the Spanish ruling over Portugal (1580–1640), occupied by force almost all Portuguese dominations in the area. The pepper ports of Malabar began to trade increasingly with the Dutch in the period 1661–1663.

As pepper supplies into Europe increased, the price of pepper declined (though the total value of the import trade generally did not). Pepper, which in the early Middle Ages had been an item exclusively for the rich, started to become more of an everyday seasoning among those of more average means. Today, pepper accounts for one-fifth of the world’s spice trade.

It is possible that black pepper was known in China in the 2nd century BCE, if poetic reports regarding an explorer named Tang Meng (唐蒙) are correct. Sent by Emperor Wu to what is now south-west China, Tang Meng is said to have come across something called jujiang or “sauce-betel”. He was told it came from the markets of Shu, an area in what is now the Sichuan province. The traditional view among historians is that “sauce-betel” is a sauce made from betel leaves, but arguments have been made that it actually refers to pepper, either long or black.

In the 3rd century AD, black pepper made its first definite appearance in Chinese texts, as hujiao or “foreign pepper”. It does not appear to have been widely known at the time, failing to appear in a 4th-century work describing a wide variety of spices from beyond China’s southern border, including long pepper.  By the 12th century, however, black pepper had become a popular ingredient in the cuisine of the wealthy and powerful, sometimes taking the place of China’s native Sichuan pepper (the tongue-numbing dried fruit of an unrelated plant).

Marco Polo testifies to pepper’s popularity in 13th-century China when he relates what he is told of its consumption in the city of Kinsay (Hangzhou): “… Messer Marco heard it stated by one of the Great Kaan’s officers of customs that the quantity of pepper introduced daily for consumption into the city of Kinsay amounted to 43 loads, each load being equal to 223 lbs.”  Marco Polo is not considered a very reliable source regarding China, and this second-hand data may be even more suspect, but if this estimated 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) a day for one city is anywhere near the truth, China’s pepper imports may have dwarfed Europe’s.

Like many eastern spices, pepper was historically both a seasoning and a medicine. Long pepper, being stronger, was often the preferred medication, but both were used.

Black Pepper (or perhaps long pepper) was believed to cure illness such as constipation, diarrhea, earache, gangrene, heart disease, hernia, hoarseness, indigestion, insect bites, insomnia, joint pain, liver problems, lung disease, oral abscesses, sunburn, tooth decay, and toothaches.  Various sources from the 5th century onward also recommend pepper to treat eye problems, often by applying salves or poultices made with pepper directly to the eye. There is no current medical evidence that any of these treatments has any benefit; pepper applied directly to the eye would be quite uncomfortable and possibly damaging.  Nevertheless, Black pepper, either powdered or its decoction, is widely used in traditional Indian medicine and as a home remedy for relief from sore throat, throat congestion, cough etc.

Pepper is known to cause sneezing. Some sources say that piperine, a substance present in black pepper, irritates the nostrils, causing the sneezing;  Few, if any, controlled studies have been carried out to answer the question. It has been shown that piperine can dramatically increase absorption of selenium, vitamin B, beta-carotene and curcumin as well as other nutrients.

As a medicine, pepper appears in the Buddhist Samaññaphala Sutta, chapter five, as one of the few medicines allowed to be carried by a monk.

Pepper contains small amounts of safrole, a mildly carcinogenic compound.  Also, it is eliminated from the diet of patients having abdominal surgery and ulcers because of its irritating effect upon the intestines, being replaced by what is referred to as a bland diet. However, extracts from black pepper have been found to have antioxidant properties and anti-carcinogenic effects, especially when compared to chili.

Piperine present in black pepper acts as a thermogenic compound. Piperine enhances the thermogenesis of lipid and accelerates energy metabolism in the body and also increases the serotonin and beta-endorphin production in the brain.

Pepper gets its spicy heat mostly from the piperine compound, which is found both in the outer fruit and in the seed. Black pepper contains between 4.6% and 9.7% piperine by mass, and white pepper slightly more than that.  Refined piperine, by weight, is about one percent as hot as the capsaicin in chili peppers. The outer fruit layer, left on black pepper, also contains important odour-contributing terpenes including pinene, sabinene, limonene, caryophyllene, and linalool, which give citrusy, woody, and floral notes. These scents are mostly missing in white pepper, which is stripped of the fruit layer. White pepper can gain some different odours (including musty notes) from its longer fermentation stage.

Piperine and other components from black pepper may also be helpful in treating vitiligo, although when combined with UV radiation should be staggered due to the effect of light on the compound.

Pepper loses flavour and aroma through evaporation, so airtight storage helps preserve pepper’s original spiciness longer. Pepper can also lose flavour when exposed to light, which can transform piperine into nearly tasteless isochavicine.  Once ground, pepper’s aromatics can evaporate quickly; most culinary sources recommend grinding whole peppercorns immediately before use for this reason. Handheld pepper mills or grinders, which mechanically grind or crush whole peppercorns, are used for this, sometimes instead of pepper shakers, dispensers of pre-ground pepper. Spice mills such as pepper mills were found in European kitchens as early as the 14th century, but the mortar and pestle used earlier for crushing pepper have remained a popular method for centuries after as well.

Peppercorns (dried black pepper) are, by monetary value, the most widely traded spice in the world, accounting for 20 percent of all spice imports in 2002. The price of pepper can be volatile, and this figure fluctuates a great deal year to year; for example, pepper made up 39 percent of all spice imports in 1998.  By weight, slightly more chili peppers are traded worldwide than peppercorns. The International Pepper Exchange is located in Kochi, India. Participation on the IPE however is domestic with regulatory restrictions on international membership on local exchanges; something common to almost all Asian commodity exchanges.

As of 2008, Vietnam is the world’s largest producer and exporter of pepper, producing 34% of the world’s Piper nigrum. Other major producers include India (19%), Brazil (13%), Indonesia (9%), Malaysia (8%), Sri Lanka (6%), China (6%), and Thailand (4%). Global pepper production peaked in 2003 with over 355,000 t (391,000 short tons), but has fallen to just over 271,000 t (299,000 short tons) by 2008 due to a series of issues including poor crop management, disease and weather. Vietnam dominates the export market, using almost none of its production domestically; however its 2007 crop fell by nearly 10% from the previous year to about 90,000 t (99,000 short tons). Similar crop yields occurred in 2007 across the other pepper producing nations as well.

(info and pictures via wikipedia)

Black pepper essential oil (Piper nigrum) is a colorless to pale greenish-gray liquid displaying fresh, warm aromatic-spicy aroma with a dry, woody-peppery undertone.

In natural perfumery it is used in high class floral bases(rose and carnation), Oriental bouquets, amber bases, spice accords, incense perfumes, culinary perfumes, after shave lotions.

Pink Pepper essential oil is  a colorless clear liquid displaying  a punquet, peppery-spicy bouquet with a green, resinous undertone.

In natural perfumery is used in spice accords, colognes, incense bouquets, mens after-shave, culinary perfumes.

Pink Pepper CO2 select extract (Schinus terebinthifolius) is a very pale yellow liquid with soft, fresh, punguent, dry, powdery, peppery aroma with a green resinous undertone. The peppery note is very smooth, full and balanced with no harsh edges. The tenacity of the peppery note is exceptional making it a good choice for a perfume in which this dry, powdery punguent note is of importance deep in the dryout of a perfume creation.

In natural perfumery used in culinary perfumes, oriental bases; spice accords, incense creations, leather notes, amber bases, rose bases, carnation bases.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

It is the world’s third most expensive spice by weight, outstripped in market value only by saffron and vanilla.

The word “cardamom” is derived from the Latin cardamomum, itself the latinisation of the Greek καρδάμωμον (kardamomon), a compound of κάρδαμον (kardamon), “cress” + ἄμωμον (amomon), which was the name for a kind of an Indian spice plant.  The earliest attested form of the word is the Mycenaean Greek ka-da-mi-ja, written in Linear B syllabic script in the list of flavourings on the “Spice” tablets found among palace archives in the House of the Sphinxes in Mycenae.

The two main genera of the ginger family named as forms of cardamom are distributed as follows:

• Elettaria (commonly called cardamom, green cardamom, or true cardamom) is distributed from India to Malaysia.
• Amomum (commonly known as black cardamom, brown cardamom, kravan, Java cardamom, Bengal cardamom, Siamese cardamom, white cardamom, or red cardamom) is distributed mainly in Asia and Australia.

The two types, κάρδαμομον and ἄμωμον were distinguished in the fourth century BCE by the Greek father of botany, Theophrastus, some of whose informants told him they came to Greece from the land of the Medes in northern Persia, while others were aware it came originally from India.

Elettaria cardamomum is used as a food plant by the larvae of the moth Endoclita hosei.

There were initially three natural varieties of green cardamom plants.

• Malabar (Nadan/Native), as the name suggests, is the native variety of Kerala. These plants have panicles which grow horizontally along the ground.
• Mysore, as the name suggests, is a native variety of Karnataka. These plants have panicles which grow vertically upwards.
• Vazhuka is a naturally occurring hybrid between Malabar and Mysore varieties, and the panicles grow neither vertically nor horizontally, but in between.

Recently, a few planters isolated high-yielding plants and started multiplying them on a large scale. The most popular high-yielding variety is ‘Njallani’. ‘Njallani, also known as rup-ree-t, is a unique high-yielding cardamom variety developed by an Indian farmer, Sebastian Joseph, at Kattappana in the South Indian state of Kerala.  K J Baby of Idukki district, Kerala, has developed a purely white flowered variety of Vazhuka type green cardamom having higher yield than ‘Njallani’. The variety has high adaptability to different shade conditions and can also be grown in waterlogged areas.

Both forms of cardamom are used as flavorings in both food and drink, as cooking spices and as a medicine. E. cardamomum (the usual type of cardamom) is used as a spice, a masticatory, and in medicine; it is also smoked sometimes.

Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic, resinous fragrance. Black cardamom has a distinctly more smokey, though not bitter, aroma, with a coolness some consider similar to mint.

Green cardamom is one of the most expensive spices by weight, but little is needed to impart the flavor. It is best stored in pod form because once the seeds are exposed or ground, they quickly lose their flavor. However, high-quality ground cardamom is often more readily (and cheaply) available and is an acceptable substitute. For recipes requiring whole cardamom pods, a generally accepted equivalent is 10 pods equals 1½ teaspoons of ground cardamom.

It is a common ingredient in Indian cooking and is often used in baking in Nordic countries, such as in the Finnish sweet bread pulla or in the Scandinavian bread Julekake. In the Middle East, green cardamom powder is used as a spice for sweet dishes, as well as traditional flavouring in coffee and tea. Cardamom pods are ground together with coffee beans to produce a powdered mixture of the two, which is boiled with water to make coffee. Cardamom is used to some extent in savoury dishes. In some Middle Eastern countries, coffee and cardamom are often ground in a wooden mortar, a mihbaj, and cooked together in a skillet, a mehmas, over wood or gas, to produce mixtures as much as 40% cardamom.

In South Asia, green cardamom is often used in traditional Indian sweets and in masala chai (spiced tea). Black cardamom is sometimes used in garam masala for curries. It is occasionally used as a garnish in basmati rice and other dishes. It is often referred to as fat cardamom due to its size. Individual seeds are sometimes chewed and used in much the same way as chewing gum; it is even used by Wrigley’s (‘Eclipse Breeze Exotic Mint’) where it states “with cardamom to neutralize the toughest breath odors.” It has been known to be used for gin making.

Green cardamom is broadly used in South Asia to treat infections in teeth and gums, to prevent and treat throat troubles, congestion of the lungs and pulmonary tuberculosis, inflammation of eyelids and also digestive disorders. It also is used to break up kidney stones and gall stones, and was reportedly used as an antidote for both snake and scorpion venom. Amomum is used as a spice and as an ingredient in traditional medicine in systems of the traditional Chinese medicine in China, in Ayurveda in India, Pakistan, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Species in the genus Amomum are also used in traditional Indian medicine. Among other species, varieties and cultivars, Amomum villosum cultivated in China, Laos and Vietnam is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat stomach issues, constipation, dysentery, and other digestion problems. Tsaoko cardamom Amomum tsao-ko is cultivated in Yunnan, China and northwest Vietnam, both for medicinal purposes and as a spice. Increased demand since the 1980s, principally from China, for both Amomum villosum and Amomum tsao-ko has provided a key source of income for poor farmers living at higher altitudes in localized areas of China, Laos and Vietnam, people typically isolated from many other markets. Until recently, Nepal had been the world’s largest producer of large cardamom. Guatemala has become the world’s biggest producer and exporter of cardamom, with an export total of US$ 137.2 million for 2007.

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) essential oil is a a coloreless to pale yellow liquid displaying a warm, rich, spicy-aromatic bouquet with a penetrating camphoraceous-medicinal topnote and a lovely balsamic-woody dryout.

In natural perfumery used in spice accords, Oriental bases, incense creations, ayurvedic compositions, chypre, fougere, men’s colognes, high class florals, culinary perfumes.

“In perfumery it will not only impart spiceness, but also a warm, sweet note which fits into floral bases such as muguet and rose. ..The oil imparts warmth in Oriental perfume bases, chypres and face powder perfumes.”-Steffen Arctander.

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) co2 select extract  from Guatemala is a pale yellow to brown liquid displaying a rich, warm, spicy-aromatic bouquet with a lovely sweet balsamic, delicate floral undertone of good tenacity.

In perfumery can be used as a warm accent note in floral perfumes, oriental bouquets, culinary creations, incense blends, chypres, after shave lotions, spice accords.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

(info and pictures via Wikipedia)

The essential oil of  West Indian Bay Leaf (Pimenta racemosa) is light brown in color displaying a complex sweet, spicy-woody aroma with a delicate vanillic- balsamic undertone of good tenacity.

In natural perfumery is used in bay rum perfume, men’s after shave lotions, colognes, space accords, incense notes, amber accords, musk accords.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

The saffron crocus, unknown in the wild, likely descends from Crocus cartwrightianus, which originated in Crete or Central Asia; C. thomasii and C. pallasii are other possible precursors.  The saffron crocus is a triploid that is “self-incompatible” and male sterile; it undergoes aberrant meiosis and is hence incapable of independent sexual reproduction—all propagation is by vegetative multiplication via manual “divide-and-set” of a starter clone or by interspecific hybridisation.  If C. sativus is a mutant form of C. cartwrightianus, then it may have emerged via plant breeding, which would have selected for elongated stigmas, in late Bronze-Age Crete.

Saffron’s bitter taste and iodoform- or hay-like fragrance result from the chemicals picrocrocin and safranal.  It also contains a carotenoid dye, crocin, which imparts a rich golden-yellow hue to dishes and textiles. Its recorded history is attested in a 7th-century BC Assyrian botanical treatise compiled under Ashurbanipal, and it has been traded and used for over four millennia. Iran now accounts for approximately 90 percent of the world production of saffron.  Because each flower’s stigmas need to be collected by hand and there are only a few per flower, saffron is the most expensive spice in the world.

The ultimate origin of the English word saffron is, like that of the cultivated saffron clone itself, of somewhat uncertain origin. It immediately stems from the Latin word safranum via the 12th-century Old French term safran. Etymology beyond that point is conflicted. Safranum may derive via the Persian intercessor زعفران, or za’ferân. But some disputants argue that it instead ultimately came from the Arabic word زَعْفَرَان, or za’farān. The latter comes from the adjective أَصْفَر: aṣfar, meaning “yellow”.

The domesticated saffron crocus, Crocus sativus, is an autumn-flowering perennial plant unknown in the wild. It is a sterile triploid form, possibly of the eastern Mediterranean autumn-flowering Crocus cartwrightianus, which is also known as “wild saffron” and originated in Central Asia.  “Triploid” means that three homologous sets of chromosomes compose each specimen’s genetic complement; C. sativus bears eight chromosomal bodies per set, making for 24 in total.  The saffron crocus likely resulted when C. cartwrightianus was subjected to extensive artificial selection by growers seeking longer stigmas. C. thomasii and C. pallasii are other possible sources.  Being sterile, the purple flowers of Crocus sativus fail to produce viable seeds; reproduction hinges on human assistance: corms, underground bulb-like starch-storing organs, must be dug up, broken apart, and replanted. A corm survives for one season, producing via this vegetative division up to ten “cormlets” that can grow into new plants in the next season.  The compact corms are small brown globules that can measure as large as 5 centimetres (2.0 in) in diameter, have a flat base, and are shrouded in a dense mat of parallel fibres; this coat is referred to as the “corm tunic”. Corms also bear vertical fibres, thin and net-like, that grow up to 5 cm above the plant’s neck.

The plant grows to a height of 20–30 cm (8–12 in), and sprouts 5–11 white and non-photosynthetic leafs known as cataphylls. They are membrane-like structures that cover and protect the crocus’s 5–11 true leaves as they bud and develop. The latter are thin, straight, and blade-like green foliage leaves, which are 1–3 mm in diameter, either expand after the flowers have opened (“hysteranthous”) or do so simultaneously with their blooming (“synanthous”). C. sativus cataphylls are suspected by some to manifest prior to blooming when the plant is irrigation relatively early in the growing season. Its floral axes, or flower-bearing structures, bear bracteoles, or specialised leaves that sprout from the flower stems; the latter are known as pedicels.  After aestivating in spring, the plant sends up its true leaves, each up to 40 cm (16 in) in length. In autumn, purple buds appear. Only in October, after most other flowering plants have released their seeds, do its brilliantly hued flowers develop; they range from a light pastel shade of lilac to a darker and more striated mauve.  Upon flowering, plants average less than 30 cm (12 in) in height. A three-pronged style emerges from each flower. Each prong terminates with a vivid crimson stigma 25–30 mm (0.98–1.2 in) in length.

Crocus sativus thrives in the Mediterranean maquis, an ecotype superficially resembling the North American chaparral, and similar climates where hot and dry summer breezes sweep semi-arid lands. It can nonetheless survive cold winters, tolerating frosts as low as −10 °C (14 °F) and short periods of snow cover.  Irrigation is required if grown outside of moist environments such as Kashmir, where annual rainfall averages1,000–1,500 mm (39–59 in); saffron-growing regions in Greece (500 mm or 20 in annually) and Spain (400 mm or 16 in) are far drier than the main cultivating Iranian regions. What makes this possible is the timing of the local wet seasons; generous spring rains and drier summers are optimal. Rain immediately preceding flowering boosts saffron yields; rainy or cold weather during flowering promotes disease and reduces yields. Persistently damp and hot conditions harm the crops, and rabbits, rats, and birds cause damage by digging up corms. Nematodes, leaf rusts, and corm rot pose other threats. Yet Bacillus subtilis inoculation may provide some benefit to growers by speeding corm growth and increasing stigma biomass yield.

The plants fare poorly in shady conditions; they grow best in full sunlight. Fields that slope towards the sunlight are optimal (i.e., south-sloping in the Northern Hemisphere). Planting is mostly done in June in the Northern Hemisphere, where corms are lodged 7–15 cm (2.8–5.9 in) deep; its roots, stems, and leaves can develop between October and February.  Planting depth and corm spacing, in concert with climate, are critical factors in determining yields. Mother corms planted deeper yield higher-quality saffron, though form fewer flower buds and daughter corms. Italian growers optimise thread yield by planting 15 cm (5.9 in) deep and in rows 2–3 cm (0.79–1.2 in) apart; depths of 8–10 cm (3.1–3.9 in) optimise flower and corm production. Greek, Moroccan, and Spanish growers employ distinct depths and spacings that suit their locales.

C. sativus prefers friable, loose, low-density, well-watered, and well-drained clay-calcareous soils with high organic content. Traditional raised beds promote good drainage. Soil organic content was historically boosted via application of some 20–30 tonnes of manure per hectare. Afterwards, and with no further manure application, corms were planted.  After a period of dormancy through the summer, the corms send up their narrow leaves and begin to bud in early autumn. Only in mid-autumn do they flower. Harvests are by necessity a speedy affair: after blossoming at dawn, flowers quickly wilt as the day passes.  All plants bloom within a window of one or two weeks.  Roughly 150 flowers together yield but 1 g (0.035 oz) of dry saffron threads; to produce 12 g (0.42 oz) of dried saffron (or 72 g (2.5 oz) moist and freshly harvested), 1 kg (2.2 lb) of flowers are needed; 1 lb (0.45 kg) yields 0.2 oz (5.7 g) of dried saffron. One freshly picked flower yields an average 30 mg (0.0011 oz) of fresh saffron or 7 mg (0.00025 oz) dried.

Saffron contains more than 150 volatile and aroma-yielding compounds. It also has many nonvolatile active components, many of which are carotenoids, including zeaxanthin, lycopene, and various α- and β-carotenes. However, saffron’s golden yellow-orange colour is primarily the result of α-crocin. This crocin is trans-crocetin di-(β-D-gentiobiosyl) ester; it bears the systematic (IUPAC) name 8,8-diapo-8,8-carotenoic acid. This means that the crocin underlying saffron’s aroma is a digentiobiose ester of the carotenoid crocetin.  Crocins themselves are a series of hydrophilic carotenoids that are either monoglycosyl or diglycosyl polyene esters of crocetin.  Crocetin is a conjugated polyene dicarboxylic acid that is hydrophobic, and thus oil-soluble. When crocetin is esterified with two water-soluble gentiobioses, which are sugars, a product results that is itself water-soluble. The resultant α-crocin is a carotenoid pigment that may comprise more than 10% of dry saffron’s mass. The two esterified gentiobioses make α-crocin ideal for colouring water-based and non-fatty foods such as rice dishes.

The bitter glucoside picrocrocin is responsible for saffron’s flavour. Picrocrocin (chemical formula: C₁₆H₂₆O₇; systematic name: 4-(β-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-2,6,6- trimethylcyclohex-1-ene-1-carboxaldehyde) is a union of an aldehyde sub-element known as safranal (systematic name: 2,6,6-trimethylcyclohexa-1,3-diene-1-carboxaldehyde) and a carbohydrate. It has insecticidal and pesticidal properties, and may comprise up to 4% of dry saffron. Picrocrocin is a truncated version of the carotenoid zeaxanthin that is produced via oxidative cleavage, and is the glycoside of the terpene aldehyde safranal. The reddish-coloured zeaxanthin is, incidentally, one of the carotenoids naturally present within the retina of the human eye.

When saffron is dried after its harvest, the heat, combined with enzymatic action, splits picrocrocin to yield D–glucose and a free safranal molecule.  Safranal, a volatile oil, gives saffron much of its distinctive aroma.  Safranal is less bitter than picrocrocin and may comprise up to 70% of dry saffron’s volatile fraction in some samples.  A second element underlying saffron’s aroma is 2-hydroxy-4,4,6-trimethyl-2,5-cyclohexadien-1-one, the scent of which has been described as “saffron, dried hay like”.  Chemists found this to be the most powerful contributor to saffron’s fragrance despite its being present in a lesser quantity than safranal.  Dry saffron is highly sensitive to fluctuating pH levels, and rapidly breaks down chemically in the presence of light and oxidizing agents. It must therefore be stored away in air-tight containers in order to minimise contact with atmospheric oxygen. Saffron is somewhat more resistant to heat.

Saffron is graded via laboratory measurement of crocin (colour), picrocrocin (taste), and safranal (fragrance) content.  Determination of non-stigma content (“floral waste content”) and other extraneous matter such as inorganic material (“ash”) are also key. Grading standards are set by the International Organization for Standardization, a federation of national standards bodies. ISO 3632 deals exclusively with saffron and establishes four empirical colour intensity grades: IV (poorest), III, II, and I (finest quality). Samples are assigned grades by gauging the spice’s crocin content, revealed by measurements of crocin-specific spectroscopic absorbance. Graders measure absorbances of 440-nm light by dry saffron samples. Higher absorbances imply greater crocin concentration, and thus a greater colourative intensity. These data are measured through spectrophotometry reports at certified testing laboratories worldwide. These colour grades proceed from grades with absorbances lower than 80 (for all category IV saffron) up to 190 or greater (for category I). The world’s finest samples (the selected most red-maroon tips of stigmas picked from the finest flowers) receive absorbance scores in excess of 250. Market prices for saffron types follow directly from these ISO scores. However, many growers, traders, and consumers reject such lab test numbers. They prefer a more holistic method of sampling batches of thread for taste, aroma, pliability, and other traits in a fashion similar to that practised by practised wine tasters.

Despite such attempts at quality control and standardisation, an extensive history of saffron adulteration—particularly among the cheapest grades—continues into modern times. Adulteration was first documented in Europe’s Middle Ages, when those found selling adulterated saffron were executed under the Safranschou code.  Typical methods include mixing in extraneous substances like beets, pomegranate fibres, red-dyed silk fibres, or the saffron crocus’s tasteless and odourless yellow stamens. Other methods included dousing saffron fibres with viscid substances like honey or vegetable oil. However, powdered saffron is more prone to adulteration, with turmeric, paprika, and other powders used as diluting fillers. Adulteration can also consist of selling mislabelled mixes of different saffron grades. Thus, in India, high-grade Kashmiri saffron is often sold and mixed with cheaper Iranian imports; these mixes are then marketed as pure Kashmiri saffron, a development that has cost Kashmiri growers much of their income.

The various saffron crocus cultivars give rise to thread types that are often regionally distributed and characteristically distinct. Varieties from Spain, including the tradenames “Spanish Superior” and “Creme”, are generally mellower in colour, flavour, and aroma; they are graded by government-imposed standards. Italian varieties are slightly more potent than Spanish; the most intense varieties tend to be Iranian. Various “boutique” crops are available from New Zealand, France, Switzerland, England, the United States, and other countries, some of them organically grown. In the U.S., Pennsylvania Dutch saffron—known for its “earthy” notes—is marketed in small quantities.

Consumers may regard certain cultivars as “premium” quality. The “Aquila” saffron, or zafferano dell’Aquila, is defined by high safranal and crocin content, distinctive thread shape, unusually pungent aroma, and intense colour; it is grown exclusively on eight hectares in the Navelli Valley of Italy’s Abruzzo region, near L’Aquila. It was first introduced to Italy by a Dominican monk from Inquisition-era Spain. But the biggest saffron cultivation in Italy is in San Gavino Monreale, Sardinia, where it is grown on 40 hectares, representing 60% of Italian production; it too has unusually high crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal content. Another is the “Mongra” or “Lacha” saffron of Kashmir (Crocus sativus ‘Cashmirianus’), which is among the most difficult for consumers to obtain. Repeated droughts, blights, and crop failures in the Indian-controlled areas of Kashmir combine with an Indian export ban to contribute to its prohibitive overseas prices. Kashmiri saffron is recognisable by its dark maroon-purple hue; it among the world’s darkest, which hints at strong flavour, aroma, and colourative effect.

The documented history of saffron cultivation spans more than three millennia.  The wild precursor of domesticated saffron crocus was Crocus cartwrightianus. Human cultivators bred wild specimens by selecting for unusually long stigmas; thus, a sterile mutant form of C. cartwrightianus, C. sativus, likely emerged in late Bronze Age Crete.

Saffron was detailed in a 7th-century BC Assyrian botanical reference compiled under Ashurbanipal.  Documentation of saffron’s use over the span of 4,000 years in the treatment of some 90 illnesses has been uncovered.  Saffron-based pigments have indeed been found in 50,000 year-old depictions of prehistoric places in northwest Iran.  The Sumerians later used wild-growing saffron in their remedies and magical potions.  Saffron was an article of long-distance trade before the Minoan palace culture’s 2nd millennium BC peak. Ancient Persians cultivated Persian saffron (Crocus sativus ‘Hausknechtii’) in Derbena, Isfahan, and Khorasan by the 10th century BC. At such sites, saffron threads were woven into textiles, ritually offered to divinities, and used in dyes, perfumes, medicines, and body washes.  Saffron threads would thus be scattered across beds and mixed into hot teas as a curative for bouts of melancholy. Non-Persians also feared the Persians’ usage of saffron as a drugging agent and aphrodisiac.  During his Asian campaigns, Alexander the Great used Persian saffron in his infusions, rice, and baths as a curative for battle wounds. Alexander’s troops imitated the practice from the Persians and brought saffron-bathing to Greece.

Conflicting theories explain saffron’s arrival in South Asia. Kashmiri and Chinese accounts date its arrival anywhere between 900–2500 years ago.  Historians studying ancient Persian records date the arrival to sometime prior to 500 BC, attributing it to a Persian transplantation of saffron corms to stock new gardens and parks. Phoenicians then marketed Kashmiri saffron as a dye and a treatment for melancholy. Its use in foods and dyes subsequently spread throughout South Asia. Buddhist monks wear saffron-coloured robes; however, the robes are not dyed with costly saffron but turmeric, a less expensive dye, or jackfruit.  Monks’ robes are dyed the same color to show equality with each other, and turmeric or ochre were the cheapest, most readily available dyes. Gamboge is now used to dye the robes.

Some historians believe that saffron came to China with Mongol invaders from Persia.  Yet saffron is mentioned in ancient Chinese medical texts, including the forty-volume pharmacopoeia titled Shennong Bencaojing (神農本草經: “Shennong’s Great Herbal”, also known as Pen Ts’ao or Pun Tsao), a tome dating from 200–300 BC. Traditionally credited to the fabled Yan (“Fire”) Emperor (炎帝) Shennong, it discusses 252 phytochemical-based medical treatments for various disorders.  Nevertheless, around the 3rd century AD, the Chinese were referring to saffron as having a Kashmiri provenance. According to Chinese herbalist Wan Zhen, “[t]he habitat of saffron is in Kashmir, where people grow it principally to offer it to the Buddha.” Wan also reflected on how it was used in his time: “The flower withers after a few days, and then the saffron is obtained. It is valued for its uniform yellow colour. It can be used to aromatise wine.”

The Minoans portrayed saffron in their palace frescoes by 1500–1600 BC; they hint at its possible use as a therapeutic drug.  Ancient Greek legends told of sea voyages to Cilicia, where adventurers sought what they thought to be the world’s most valued threads.  Another legend tells of Crocus and Smilax, whereby Crocus is bewitched and transformed into the first saffron crocus.  Ancient perfumers in Egypt, physicians in Gaza, townspeople in Rhodes, and the Greek hetaerae courtesans used saffron in their scented waters, perfumes and potpourris, mascaras and ointments, divine offerings, and medical treatments.

In late Hellenistic Egypt, Cleopatra used saffron in her baths so that lovemaking would be more pleasurable.  Egyptian healers used saffron as a treatment for all varieties of gastrointestinal ailments.  Saffron was also used as a fabric dye in such Levantine cities as Sidon and Tyre.  Aulus Cornelius Celsus prescribes saffron in medicines for wounds, cough, colic, and scabies, and in the mithridatium.  Such was the Romans’ love of saffron that Roman colonists took it with them when they settled in southern Gaul, where it was extensively cultivated until Rome’s fall. Competing theories state that saffron only returned to France with 8th-century AD Moors or with the Avignon papacy in the 14th century AD.

European saffron cultivation plummeted after the Roman Empire went into eclipse. As with France, the spread of Islamic civilization may have helped reintroduce the crop to Spain and Italy.  The 14th-century Black Death caused demand for saffron-based medicaments to peak, and large quantities of threads had to be imported via Venetian and Genoan ships from southern and Mediterranean lands such as Rhodes; the theft of one such shipment by noblemen sparked the fourteen-week long “Saffron War”.  The conflict and resulting fear of rampant saffron piracy spurred corm cultivation in Basel; it thereby grew prosperous.  The crop then spread to Nuremberg, where endemic and insalubrious adulteration brought on the Safranschou code—whereby culprits were variously fined, imprisoned, and executed.  The corms soon spread throughout England, especially Norfolk and Suffolk. The Essex town of Saffron Walden, named for its new speciality crop, emerged as England’s prime saffron growing and trading centre. However, an influx of more exotic spices—chocolate, coffee, tea, and vanilla—from newly contacted Eastern and overseas countries caused European cultivation and usage of saffron to decline.  Only in southern France, Italy, and Spain did the clone significantly endure.

Europeans introduced saffron to the Americas when immigrant members of the Schwenkfelder Church left Europe with a trunk containing its corms; church members had widely grown it in Europe.  By 1730, the Pennsylvania Dutch were cultivating saffron throughout eastern Pennsylvania. Spanish colonies in the Caribbean bought large amounts of this new American saffron, and high demand ensured that saffron’s list price on the Philadelphia commodities exchange was set equal to that of gold.  The trade with the Caribbean later collapsed in the aftermath of the War of 1812, when many saffron-bearing merchant vessels were destroyed.  Yet the Pennsylvania Dutch continued to grow lesser amounts of saffron for local trade and use in their cakes, noodles, and chicken or trout dishes.  American saffron cultivation survived into modern times mainly in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Almost all saffron grows in a belt bounded by the Mediterranean in the west and the rugged region encompassing Iran and Kashmir in the east. The other continents, except Antarctica, produce smaller amounts. Some 300 t (300,000 kg) of dried whole threads and powder are gleaned yearly, of which 50 t (50,000 kg) is top-grade “coupe” saffron.  Iran answers for around 90–93% of global production and exports much of it.  A few of Iran’s drier eastern and southeastern provinces, including Fars, Kerman, and those in the Khorasan region, glean the bulk of modern global production. In 2005, the second-ranked Greece produced 5.7 t (5,700.0 kg), while Morocco and Kashmir, tied for third rank, each produced 2.3 t (2,300.0 kg).

In recent years, Afghan cultivation has risen; in restive Kashmir it has declined.  Azerbaijan, Morocco, and Italy are, in decreasing order, lesser producers. Prohibitively high labour costs and abundant Iranian imports mean that only select locales continue the tedious harvest in Austria, England, Germany, and Switzerland—among them the Swiss village of Mund, whose annual output is a few kilograms.  Tasmania, China, Egypt, France, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Turkey (mainly around the town of Safranbolu), California, and Central Africa are microscale cultivators.

To glean an amount of dry saffron weighing 1 lb (450 g) is to harvest 50,000–75,000 flowers, the equivalent of an association football pitch’s area of cultivation; 110,000–170,000 flowers or two football fields are needed to gross one kilogram.  Forty hours of labour are needed to pick 150,000 flowers.  Stigmas are dried quickly upon extraction and (preferably) sealed in airtight containers.  Saffron prices at wholesale and retail rates range from US$500 to US$5,000 per pound, or US$1,100–11,000/kg, equivalent to £2,500/€3,500 per pound or £5,500/€7,500 per kilogram. The price in Canada recently rose to CAD 18,000 per kilogram. In Western countries, the average retail price is $1,000/£500/€700 per pound, or US$2,200/£1,100/€1,550 per kilogram.  A pound contains between 70,000 and 200,000 threads. Vivid crimson colouring, slight moistness, elasticity, and lack of broken-off thread debris are all traits of fresh saffron. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world.

Saffron’s aroma is often described by connoisseurs as reminiscent of metallic honey with grassy or hay-like notes, while its taste has also been noted as hay-like and sweet. Saffron also contributes a luminous yellow-orange colouring to foods. Saffron is widely used in Indian, Persian, European, Arab, and Turkish cuisines. Confectioneries and liquors also often include saffron. Common saffron substitutes include safflower (Carthamus tinctorius, which is often sold as “Portuguese saffron” or “açafrão”), annatto, and turmeric (Curcuma longa). Saffron has also been used as a fabric dye, particularly in China and India, and in perfumery.  It is used for religious purposes in India, and is widely used in cooking in many cuisines, ranging from the Milanese risotto of Italy to the bouillabaise of France to the biryani with various meat accompaniments in South Asia.

Saffron has a long medicinal history as part of traditional healing; several modern research studies have hinted that the spice has possible anticarcinogenic (cancer-suppressing), anti-mutagenic (mutation-preventing), immunomodulating, and antioxidant-like properties.  Saffron stigmas, and even petals, may be helpful for depression.  Early studies show that saffron may protect the eyes from the direct effects of bright light and retinal stress apart from slowing down macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.  (Most saffron-related research refers to the stigmas, but this is often not made explicit in research papers.) Other controlled research studies have indicated that saffron may have many potential medicinal properties.

(info and pictures via Wikipedia)

The reddish-gold transparent liquid of Indian saffron co2 (Crocus sativa) immediately and rapidly begings to fill the room with its aromatic aura. It is not an easy aroma to describe-immensely rich and powerful, with a warm spicy-herbaceous, somewhat coumarinic, powdery, musky, honeyed bouquet. It is very complex and potent-one of the essences that totally envelopes one. Once it fills the room with its aroma that basic olfactory bouquet remains intact for many hours gradually maturing into a powdery, honeyed herbaceous bouquet.

In perfumery can be used in sacred perfumes, incense creations, geographical perfumes, historical bouquets, apothecary perfumes, culinary creations, accent in high class floral perfumes; special addition to colognes in trace amounts.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

The white champaca is known by various names in English and other languages, including pak lan (in Hawaiian and Cantonese).

Magnolia × alba matures to 30 meters with evergreen leaves; the flowers have a count of 12 petals.

Magnolia × alba is widely cultivated as an ornamental in Asia, particularly tropical and subtropical regions of China and Southeast Asia for the strongly fragrant flowers. An essential oil is extracted from the flowers. In China, where it is known as bai lan (白蘭), the flowers are used to prepare yulan tea. In traditional Chinese medicine, the flowers are used to move qi and relieve cough.

(info and pictures via Wikipedia)

White Champa Flower CO2 select extract is an amber colored liquid displaying a suave, sweet, floral bouquet with a fruity-herbaceous undertone.

In natural perfumery used in Oriental bouquets, high class florals, fruit accords, tropical essences, garland perfumes.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

The fungus grows in deciduous and coniferous forests and tree plantations, forming symbiotic ectomycorrhizal associations with living trees by enveloping the tree’s underground roots with sheaths of fungal tissue. The fungus produces spore-bearing fruit bodies above ground in summer and autumn. The fruit body has a large brown cap which on occasion can reach 35 cm (14 in) in diameter and 3 kg (6.6 lb) in weight. Like other boletes, it has tubes extending downward from the underside of the cap, rather than gills; spores escape at maturity through the tube openings, or pores. The pore surface of the B. edulis fruit body is whitish when young, but ages to a greenish-yellow. The stout stipe, or stem, is white or yellowish in colour, up to 25 cm (10 in) tall and 10 cm (3.9 in) thick, and partially covered with a raised network pattern, or reticulations.

Prized as an ingredient in various foods, B. edulis is an edible mushroom held in high regard in many cuisines, and is commonly prepared and eaten in soups, pasta, or risotto. The mushroom is low in fat and digestible carbohydrates, and high in protein, vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. Although it is sold commercially, it has not been successfully grown in cultivation. Available fresh in autumn in Central, Southern and Northern Europe, it is most often dried, packaged and distributed worldwide. Keeping its flavour after drying, it is then reconstituted and used in cooking. B. edulis is one of the few fungi sold pickled. The fungus also produces a variety of organic compounds with a diverse spectrum of biological activity, including the steroid derivative ergosterol, a sugar binding protein, antiviral compounds, antioxidants, and phytochelatins, which give the organism resistance to toxic heavy metals.

Boletus edulis was first described in 1782 by the French botanist Pierre Bulliard and still bears its original name.  The starting date of fungal taxonomy had been set as January 1, 1821, to coincide with the date of the works of the ‘father of mycology’, Swedish naturalist Elias Magnus Fries, which meant the name required sanction by Fries (indicated in the name by a colon) to be considered valid, as Bulliard’s work preceded this date. It was thus written Boletus edulis Bull.:Fr. However, a 1987 revision of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature set the starting date at May 1, 1753, the date of publication of Linnaeus’ seminal work, the Species Plantarum.  Hence, the name no longer requires the ratification of Fries’ authority. Early alternate names include Boletus solidus by English naturalist James Sowerby in 1809, and Gray’s Leccinum edule.  Gray’s transfer of the species to Leccinum was later determined to be inconsistent with the rules of botanical nomenclature, and he apparently was unfamiliar with the earlier works of Fries when he published his arrangement of bolete species.

B. edulis is the type species of the genus Boletus. In Rolf Singer’s classification of the Agaricales mushrooms, it is also the type species of section Boletus, a grouping of about 30 related boletes united by a number of characteristics: a mild-tasting, white flesh that does not change colour when exposed to air; a smooth to distinctly raised, netted pattern over at least the uppermost portion of the stem; a yellow-brown or olive-brown spore print; white tubes that later become yellowish then greenish, which initially appear to be stuffed with cotton; and cystidia that are not strongly coloured.  Molecular analysis published in 2006 established that the bolete mushrooms are all derived from a common ancestor, and established the Boletales as an order separate from the Agaricales.

The generic name is derived from the Latin term bōlētus “mushroom”, which was borrowed in turn from the Ancient Greek βωλίτης, “terrestrial fungus”.  Ultimately, this last word derives from bōlos/βῶλος “lump”, “clod”, and, metaphorically, “mushroom”. However, the βωλίτης of Galen, like the boletus of Latin writers like Martial, Seneca and Petronius, is often identified as the much prized Amanita caesarea. The specific epithet edulis in Latin means “eatable” or “edible”.

Common names for B. edulis vary by region. The standard Italian name porcino means “piglet” in Italian, and echoes the term suilli, literally “hog mushrooms”, used by the Ancient Romans, and still surviving in Southern Italian words for this mushroom.  The derivation has been ascribed to the resemblance of young fruit bodies to piglets, or to the fondness pigs have for eating them.  It is also known as “king bolete”.  The English penny bun refers to its rounded brownish shape. The German name Steinpilz “stone mushroom” is derived from the firm flesh.  In Austria, it is called Herrenpilz, the “gentlemen’s mushroom”, while in Mexico, the Spanish name is panza, meaning “belly”.  Another Spanish name, rodellon, means “small round boulder”, while the Dutch name eekhoorntjesbrood means “squirrel’s bread”.  In Albanian, it is called pankushe or barkushe, the first name probably deriving from Latin and the second one its analog in Albanian meaning “the belly one” from bark = “belly”. In Russia and some ex-Soviet republics B. edulis is known as “white mushroom” (where “white” means “noble” as opposed to “black” i.e. common mushrooms). Its Polish name prawdziwek stems from prawda or truth, suggesting it is the “true mushroom”, reflecting its status as the king of field mushrooms in that country. In Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia, it is known as pravi vrganj (true vrganj), or more often only as vrganj, which is actually the common name for the whole Boletus genus.

The vernacular name cep is derived from the Catalan cep or its French name cèpe, although the latter is a generic term applying to several species. In France, it is more fully cèpe de Bordeaux, derived from the Gascon cep “trunk” for its fat stalk, ultimately from the Latin cippus “stake”.  Ceppatello, ceppatello buono, ceppatello bianco, giallo leonato, ghezzo, and moreccio are names from Italian dialects,^[24][25] and ciurenys or surenys is another term in Catalan.  The French-born King Charles XIV John popularised B. edulis in Sweden after 1818, and is honoured in the local vernacular name Karljohanssvamp. The monarch cultivated the fungus about his residence, Rosersberg Palace.  It is known as hed tab tao เห็ดตับเต่า in Thai.

The cap of this mushroom is 7–30 cm (3–12 in) broad at maturity. Slightly sticky to touch, it is convex in shape when young and flattens with age. The colour is generally reddish-brown fading to white in areas near the margin, and continues to darken as it matures. The stipe, or stem, is 8–25 cm (3.5–10 in) in height, and up to 7 cm (2.8 in) thick—rather large in comparison to the cap; it is club-shaped, or bulges out in the middle. It is finely reticulate on the upper portion, but smooth or irregularly ridged on the lower part. The under surface of the cap is made of thin tubes, the site of spore production; they are 1 to 2 cm (0.4 to 0.8 in) deep, and whitish in colour when young, but mature to a greenish-yellow.  The angular pores, which do not stain when bruised, are small — roughly 2 to 3 pores per millimetre.  In youth, the pores are white and appear as if stuffed with cotton (which are actually mycelia); as they age, they change colour to yellow and later to brown. The spore print is olive brown. The flesh of the fruit body is white, thick and firm when young, but becomes somewhat spongy with age. When bruised or cut, it either does not change colour, or turns a very light brown.  Fully mature specimens can weigh about 1 kg (2.2 lb); a huge specimen collected on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, in 1995 bore a cap of 42 cm (16.5 in), with a stipe 18 cm (7.1 in) in height and 14 cm (5.5 in) wide, and weighed 3.2 kg (7.1 lb).

B. edulis is considered one of the safest wild mushrooms to pick for the table, as no poisonous species closely resemble it.  The most similar mushroom may be the devil’s bolete (Boletus satanas), which has a similar shape, but has a red stem and stains blue on bruising.  However, it is often confused with the very bitter and unpalatable Tylopilus felleus, but can be distinguished by the reticulation on the stalk; in porcini, it is a whitish, net-like pattern on a brownish stalk, whereas it is a dark pattern on white in the latter. Porcini have whitish pores while the other has pink. If in doubt, tasting a tiny bit of flesh will yield a bitter taste.  It can also resemble the “bolete-like” Gyroporus castaneus, which is generally smaller, and has a browner stem.

The spores are elliptical to spindle-shaped, with dimensions of 12–17 by 5–7 µm. The basidia, the spore-bearing cells, are produced in a layer lining the tubes, and arrange themselves so their ends are facing the center of the tube; this layer of cells is known technically as a hymenium. The basidia are thin-walled, mostly attached to four spores, and measure 25–30 by 8–10 µm. Another cell type present in the hymenium is the cystidia, larger sterile cells that protrude beyond the basidia into the lumen of the hymenium, and act as air traps, regulating humidity.  B. edulis has pleurocystidia (cystidia located on the face of a pore) that are thin-walled, roughly spindle-shaped to ventricose, and measure 30–45 by 7–10 µm; the hymenium does not have cheilocystidia — cells found on the edges of the pores.  The hyphae of B. edulis do not have clamp connections.

Several similar brownish-coloured species are sometimes considered subspecies or forms of this mushroom. In Europe, in addition to B. edulis (or cèpe de Bordeaux), the most popular are:

• Tête de nègre (“negro’s head”; Boletus aereus), much rarer than B. edulis, is more highly regarded by gourmets, and more expensive. Usually smaller than B. edulis, it is also distinctively darker in colour. It is especially suited to drying.
• Cèpe des pins (“pine tree cep”; Boletus pinophilus or Boletus pinicola) grows among pine trees. Rarer than B. edulis, it is less appreciated by gourmets than the two other kinds of porcini, but remains a mushroom rated above most others.
• Cèpe d’été (“summer cep”; Boletus reticulatus), also less common and found earlier.

Molecular phylogenetic analyses have proven these three are all distinctive and separate species; other taxa formerly believed to be unique species or subspecies, such as B. betulicola, B. chippewaensis, B. persoonii, B. quercicola and B. venturii, are now known to be part of a B. edulis species complex with a wide morphological, ecological and geographic range, and that the genetic variability in this complex is low.  Similar molecular technology has been developed to rapidly and accurately identify B. edulis and other commercially important fungi.

Western North America has a number of species closely related to B. edulis. The white king bolete (Boletus barrowsii), found in parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California (and possibly elsewhere), is named after its discoverer Chuck Barrows. It is lighter in colour than B. edulis, having a cream-coloured cap with pink tones; often mycorrhizal with Ponderosa pine, it tends to grow in areas where there is less rainfall. Some find its flavour as good as if not better than B. edulis.  The California king bolete (Boletus edulis var. grandedulis) can reach massive proportions, and is distinguished from B. edulis by a mature pore surface that is brown to slightly reddish. The cap colour appears to be affected by the amount of light received during its development, and may range from white in young specimens grown under thick canopy, to dark-brown, red-brown or yellow brown in those specimens receiving more light.  The queen bolete (Boletus regineus), formerly considered a variety of B. aereus, is also a choice edible. It is generally smaller than B. edulis, and unlike that species, is typically found in mixed forests.  The spring king bolete (Boletus rex-veris), formerly considered a variety of B. edulis or B. pinophilus, is found throughout western North America. In contrast to B. edulis, B. rex-veris tends to fruit in clusters, and, as its common name suggests, appears in the spring.

The fruit bodies of Boletus edulis can grow singly or in small clusters of two or three specimens. The mushroom’s habitat consists of areas dominated by pine (Pinus spp.), spruce (Picea spp.), hemlock (Tsuga spp.) and fir (Abies spp.) trees, although other hosts include chestnut, chinquapin, beech, Keteleeria spp., Lithocarpus spp., and oak. In California, porcini have been collected in a variety of forests, such as coastal forests, dry interior oak forests and savannas and interior high-elevation montane mixed forests, to an altitude of 3,500 m (11,500 ft).  In northwestern Spain, they are common in scrublands dominated by the rock rose species Cistus ladanifer and Halimium lasianthum.

Boletus edulis has a cosmopolitan distribution, concentrated in cool-temperate to subtropical regions.  It is common in Europe—from northern Scandinavia, south to the extremities of Greece and Italy—and North America, where its southern range extends as far south as Mexico.  It is well known from the Borgotaro area of Parma, Italy, and has PGI status there. The European distribution extends north to Scandinavia and south to southern Italy and Morocco. In China, the mushroom can be found from the northeastern Heilongjiang Province to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and Tibet. It has been recorded growing under Pinus and Tsuga in Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal, as well as in the Indian forests of Arunachal Pradesh. In West Asia, the species has been reported from the northwest forests of Iran.

Boletus edulis grows in some areas where it is not believed to be indigenous. It is often found underneath oak and silver birch in Hagley Park in central Christchurch, New Zealand, where it is likely to have been introduced, probably on the roots of container-grown beech, birch, and oak in the mid-19th century—around the time exotic trees began to be planted in the Christchurch area.  It has been growing plentifully in association with pine forests in the southern KwaZulu-Natal Midlands in South Africa for more than 50 years and is believed to have been introduced with the import of pine trees.  It also grows in pine plantations in neighboring Zimbabwe.

Although Italian folklore holds that porcini sprout up at the time of the new moon, a number of research studies have tried to investigate more scientifically the factors that influence the production of fruit bodies. Although fruit bodies may appear any time from summer to autumn, their growth is known to be triggered by rainfall during warm periods of weather followed by frequent autumn rain with a drop in soil temperature.  Above average rainfall may result in the rapid appearance of large numbers of boletes, in what is known in some circles as a “bolete year”.  A 2004 field study indicated that fruit body production is enhanced by an open and sunny wood habitat, corroborating an earlier observation made in a Zimbabwean study; removal of the litter layer on the forest floor appeared to have a negative effect on fruit body production, but previous studies reported contradictory results.  A Lithuanian study conducted in 2001 concluded that the maximal daily growth rate of the cap (about 21 mm or 0.8 in) occurred when the relative air humidity was the greatest, and the fruit bodies ceased growing when the air humidity dropped below 40%. Factors most likely to inhibit the appearance of fruit bodies included prolonged drought, inadequate air and soil humidity, sudden decreases of night air temperatures, and the appearance of the first frost.  Plots facing north tend to produce more mushrooms compared to equivalent plots facing south.

Boletus edulis is mycorrhizal—it is in a mutualistic relationship with the roots of plants (“hosts”), in which the fungus exchanges minerals extracted from the environment for fixed carbon from the host. Other benefits for the plant are evident: in the case of the Chinese Chestnut, the formation of mycorrhizae with B. edulis increases the ability of plant seedlings to resist water stress, and increases leaf succulence, leaf area, and water-holding ability. The fungus forms a sheath of tissue around terminal, nutrient-absorbing rootlets of the host, forming so-called “ectomycorrhizae”; the fungal hyphae emanate throughout the soil, effectively increasing the surface area for nutrient absorption, and the fungus penetrates between cells of the cortex to facilitate nutrient exchange. Compatible hosts may belong to multiple families of vascular plants that are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere; according to one 1995 estimate, there are at least 30 host plant species distributed over more than 15 genera.  Examples of mycorrhizal associates include Chinese red pine, Mexican weeping pine, Scots pine, Norway spruce, Coast Douglas-fir, mountain pine, and Virginia pine.  The fungus has also been shown to associate with Gum rockrose, a pioneer early stage shrub that is adapted for growth in degraded areas, such as burned forests.  These and other Rockrose species are ecologically important as fungal reservoirs, maintaining an inoculum of mycorrhizal fungi for trees that appear later in the forest regrowth cycle.

The mushroom has been noted to commonly co-occur with Amanita muscaria or A. rubescens, although it is unclear whether this is due to a biological association between the species, or because of similarities in growing season, habitat, and ecological requirements.  An association has also been reported between B. edulis and Amanita excelsa on Pinus radiata ectomycorrhizae in New Zealand, suggesting that other fungi may influence the life cycle of porcini.  A 2007 field study revealed little correlation between the abundance of fruit bodies and presence of its mycelia below ground, even when soil samples were taken from directly beneath the mushroom; the study concluded “Factors triggering formation of mycorrhizae and fructification of porcini appear to be too complex to be simply explained on the basis of the amount of fungal mycelia in the soil.”

Boletus edulis is known to be able to tolerate and even thrive on soil that is contaminated with toxic heavy metals, such as soil that might be found near metal smelters. The mushroom’s resistance to heavy metal toxicity is conferred by a biochemical called a phytochelatin—an oligopeptide whose production is induced after exposure to metal.  Phytochelatins are chelating agents, capable of forming multiple bonds with the metal; in this state, the metal cannot normally react with other elements or ions and is stored in a detoxified form in the mushroom tissue.

The fruit bodies of B. edulis can be infected by the parasitic mould-like fungus Hypomyces chrysospermus, known as the bolete eater, which manifests itself as a white, yellow, or reddish-brown cottony layer over the surface of the mushroom. Some reported cases of stomach ache following consumption of dried porcini have been attributed to the presence of this mould on the fruit bodies.  The mushroom is also used as a food source by several species of mushroom flies, as well as other insects and their larvae. An unidentified species of virus was reported to have infected specimens found in the Netherlands and in Italy; fruit bodies affected by the virus had relatively thick stems and small or no caps, leading to the name “little-cap disease”.

Boletus edulis is a food source for animals such as the banana slug (Ariolimax columbianus), the Long-haired Grass Mouse, the Red Squirrel, and, as noted in one isolated report, the Fox Sparrow.

Boletus edulis, like its name implies, is an edible mushroom. Italian chef and restaurateur Antonio Carluccio has described it as representing “the wild mushroom par excellence“, and hails it as the most rewarding of all fungi in the kitchen for its taste and versatility.  Considered a choice edible, particularly in France, Germany and Italy, it was widely written about by the Roman writers Pliny the Elder and Martial, although ranked below the esteemed Amanita caesarea.

sunt tibi boleti:fungos ego sumo suillos (Ep. iii. 60)
(“You eat the choice boletus, I have mushrooms that swine grub up.”)

wrote the disgruntled Martial when served suilli instead of boleti.  The term suilli was also thought to encompass the related Leccinum scabrum.

The flavour has been described as nutty and slightly meaty, with a smooth, creamy texture, and a distinctive aroma reminiscent of sourdough. Young, small porcini are most appreciated by gourmets, as the large ones often harbor maggots (insect larvae), and become slimy, soft and less tasty with age. Fruit bodies are collected by holding the stipe near the base and twisting gently. Cutting the stipe with a knife may risk the part left behind rotting and the mycelium being destroyed. Peeling and washing are not recommended.  The fruit bodies are highly perishable, due largely to the high water content (around 90%), the high level of enzyme activity, and the presence of a flora of microorganisms.  Caution should be exercised when collecting specimens from potentially polluted or contaminated sites, as several studies have shown that the fruit bodies can bioaccumulate toxic heavy metals like mercury, cadmium, caesium and polonium.  Bioaccumulated metals or radioactive fission decay products are like chemical signatures: chemical and radiochemical analysis can be used to identify the origin of imported specimens,and for long-term radioecological monitoring of polluted areas.

Porcini are sold fresh in markets in summer and autumn in Central and Southern Europe, and dried or canned at other times of the year, and distributed worldwide to countries where they are not otherwise found.  They are eaten and enjoyed raw, sautéed with butter, ground into pasta, in soups, and in many other dishes. In France, they are used in recipes such as cèpes à la Bordelaise, cèpe frits and cèpe aux tomates.  Porcini risotto is a traditional Italian autumn dish.  Porcini are a feature of many cuisines, including Provençal, and Viennese.  They are used in soups and consumed blanched in salads in Thailand.  Porcini can also be frozen — either raw or first cooked in butter. The colour, aroma, and taste of frozen porcini deteriorate noticeably if frozen longer than four months. Blanching or soaking and blanching as a processing step before freezing can extend the freezer life up to 12 months.  They are also one of the few mushroom species pickled and sold commercially.

Boletus edulis is well suited to drying — its flavour intensifies, it is easily reconstituted, and its resulting texture is pleasant.  Reconstitution is done by soaking in hot, but not boiling, water for about twenty minutes; the water used is infused with the mushroom aroma and it too can be used in subsequent cooking. Dried porcini have more protein than most other commonly consumed vegetables apart from soybeans. However, some of this content is indigestible, though digestibility is improved with cooking.

Like other boletes, porcini can be dried by being strung separately on twine and hung close to the ceiling of a kitchen. Alternatively, the mushrooms can be dried by cleaning with a brush (washing is not recommended), and then placing them in a wicker basket or bamboo steamer on top of a boiler or hot water tank.  Another method is drying in an oven at 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F) for two to three hours, then increasing the temperature to 50 °C (122 °F) until crisp or brittle.  Once dry, they are kept in an airtight jar.  Importantly for commercial production, porcini retain their flavour after industrial preparation in a pressure cooker or after canning or bottling, and are thus useful for manufacturers of soups or stews. The addition of a few pieces of dried porcino can significantly add to flavour, and they are a major ingredient of the pasta sauce known as carrettiere (carter’s sauce).  The drying process is known to induce the formation of various volatile substances that contribute to the mushroom’s aroma. Chemical analysis has shown that the odour of the dried mushroom is a complex mixture of 53 volatile compounds.

A 1998 estimate suggests the total annual worldwide consumption of Boletus edulis and closely related species (B. aereus, B. pinophilus, and B. reticulatus) to be between 20,000 and 100,000 tons.  Approximately 2,700 tonnes (3,000 tons) were sold in France, Italy and Germany in 1988, according to official figures. The true amount consumed far exceeds this, as it does not account for informal sales or consumption by collectors.  They are widely exported and sold in dried form, reaching countries where they do not occur naturally, such as Australia and New Zealand. The autonomous community of Castile and León in Spain produces 7,700 tonnes (8,500 tons) annually.  In autumn, the price of porcini in the Northern Hemisphere typically ranges between $20 and $80 dollars per kilogram, although in New York in 1997, the scarcity of fruit bodies elevated the wholesale price to over $200 per kilogram.

In the vicinity of Borgotaro in the Province of Parma of northern Italy, the four species Boletus edulis, B. aereus, B. aestivalis and B. pinophilus have been recognised for their superior taste and officially termed Fungo di Borgotaro. Here, these mushrooms have been collected for centuries, and exported commercially. However, due to recent trends in the globalization of mushroom trade, most of the porcini commercially available in Italy or exported by Italy no longer originate from Italy. Porcini and other mushrooms are imported into Italy from various locations, especially China and eastern European countries; these are then often re-exported under the “Italian porcini” label.

In Italy, the disconnect with local production has had an adverse effect on quality; for example, in the 1990s, some of the dried porcino mushrooms exported to Italy from China contained species of genus Tylopilus, which are rather similar in appearance, and when dried, are difficult for both mushroom labourers and mycologists alike to distinguish from Boletus. Tylopilus species typically have a very bitter taste, a bitterness that is imparted to the flavour of the porcini with which they are mixed.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain and the economic and political barriers that followed, central and eastern European countries with local mushroom harvesting traditions, such as Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia, developed into exporters of porcini, concentrating primarily on the Italian market.  Exported porcini and other wild fungi are also destined for France, Germany and other western European markets, where demand for them exists, but collection on a commercial scale does not.  Picking B. edulis has become an annual seasonal income earner and pastime in countries like Bulgaria, especially for many Roma communities and the unemployed.  Unfortunately, a lack of control has led to heavy exploitation of the mushroom resource.

As with other strictly mycorrhizal fungi, B. edulis has eluded attempts to cultivate it.  The results of some studies suggest that unknown components of the soil microflora might be required for B. edulis to successfully establish a mycorrhizal relationship with the host plant.

Boletus edulis constitutes a food source which, although not rich in easily absorbed carbohydrates or fat, contains vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. Fresh mushrooms contain over 80% moisture, although reported values tend to differ somewhat as moisture content can be affected by environmental temperature and relative humidity during growth and storage, as well as the relative amount of water that may be produced as a result of normal metabolic processes during storage.

Carbohydrates make up the bulk of the fruit bodies, comprising 9.23% of the fresh weight (see table), and 65.4% of the dry weight.  The carbohydrate component contains the monosaccharides glucose, mannitol and α,α-trehalose, the polysaccharide glycogen, and the water-insoluble structural polysaccharide chitin, which accounts for up to 80–90% of dry matter in mushroom cell walls. Chitin, hemicellulose, and pectin-like carbohydrates—all indigestible by humans—contribute to the nutritionally desirable high proportion of insoluble fibre in B. edulis.

The total lipid, or crude fat, content makes up 2.6% of the dry matter of the mushroom. The proportion of fatty acids (expressed as a % of total fatty acids) are: palmitic acid, 9.8%; stearic acid, 2.7%; oleic acid, 36.1%; linoleic acid, 42.2%, and linolenic acid, 0.2%.

A comparative study of the amino acid composition of eleven Portuguese wild edible mushroom species showed Boletus edulis to have the highest total amino acid content, about 2.3 g per 100 g of dried mushroom. This total includes a full complement of 20 essential and nonessential amino acids.^[120] Analysis of the free amino acids (that is, those not bound up in protein) revealed glutamine and alanine to be the principal amino acids (each about 25% of total compounds); a separate analysis concluded that lysine is another predominant compound.

Reported values of the composition and concentrations of trace metals and minerals in Boletus edulis tend to differ considerably, as the mushroom bioaccumulates different elements to varying degrees, and the element concentration in the fruit bodies is often a reflection of the element concentration of the soils from which they were picked.  In general, B. edulis contains appreciable amounts of selenium (13-17 ppm), a trace mineral essential for good health; however, the bioavailability of mushroom-derived selenium is low.  Whole fruit bodies also contain about 200 μg of vitamin D₂ per 100 g dry weight.  The relatively high ergosterol content (see next section) of the fruit bodies can make the mushroom nutritionally pragmatic for vegetarians and vegans, who would otherwise have a limited intake of vitamin D.

Boletus edulis fruit bodies contain about 500 mg of ergosterol per 100 g of dried mushroom.  Ergosterol is a sterol compound common in fungi. Additionally, the fruit bodies have about 30 mg of ergosterol peroxide per 100 g of dried mushroom. Ergosterol peroxide is a steroid derivative with a wide spectrum of biological activity, including antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity, and cytotoxicity to various tumor cell lines grown in laboratory culture.

The mushroom also contains a sugar-binding protein, or lectin, that has affinity for the sugars xylose and melibiose. The lectin is mitogenic—that is, it can stimulate cells to begin the process of cell division, resulting in mitosis. Further, the lectin has antiviral properties: it inhibits the human immunodeficiency virus enzyme reverse transcriptase.   Other studies suggest that B. edulis also has antiviral activity against Vaccinia virus and tobacco mosaic virus grown in culture.  Antiviral compounds from mushrooms are a subject of interest in biomedical research for their potential to advance the knowledge of viral replication, and as new drugs in the treatment of viral disease.

The fruit bodies have a high antioxidative capacity, due probably to a combination of various organic acids (such as oxalic, citric, malic, succinic and fumaric acids), tocopherols, phenolic compounds and alkaloids; the highest antioxidant activity is in the mushroom caps.  Furthermore, fruit bodies were determined to have 528 mg of the antioxidant compound ergothioneine per kilogram of fresh mushroom; this value was the highest among many food items tested in one study.  Porcini were thought to have anti-cancer properties according to Hungarian research conducted in the 1950s, but later investigations in the United States did not support this.

(info and pictures via Wikipedia)

Mushroom absolute is a dark brown viscous liquid displaying a potent mossy, rooty, chocolaty aroma with a fine deep earthy undertone. It is in that category of aromatic materials like galbanum, seaweed, cade, choya nakh, etc where a very little goes a long way. If used correctly it can produce unique results in the compositions into which it is incorporated. Its effect upon the perfume is not immediately registered but its effect grows over time so requires very good judgement in the amount to be used.

In natural perfumery it is used in fougere, forest notes, fantasy perfumes, ambergris bases, musk accords, amber bases, precious woods creations.

(info via White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

Pelargonium graveolens is a species in the Pelargonium genus, which is indigenous to various parts of southern Africa, and in particular South Africa. It is often called geranium as it falls within the plant family Geraniaceae, although more correctly, it is referred to as Pelargonium. This specific species has great importance in the perfume industry. It is cultivated on a large scale and its foliage is distilled for its scent. P. graveolens cultivars have a wide variety of smells, including rose, citrus, mint, coconut and nutmeg, as well as various fruits. However, the most commercially important varieties are those that have rose scents.

Common names include rose geranium, old fashion rose geranium, and rose-scent geranium. Pelargonium graveolens is also known by taxonomic synonyms “Geranium terebinthinaceum Cav.” and Pelargonium terebinthinaceum (Cav.) Desf.” “Rose geranium” is sometimes used to refer to “Pelargonium incrassatum (Andrews) Sims” or its synonym “Pelargonium roseum – the herbal name- (Andrews) DC.”  Commercial vendors often list the source of geranium or rose geranium essential oil as Pelargonium graveolens regardless of its herbal botanical name.

Pelargonium distillates and absolutes, commonly known as “geranium oil,” is sold for aromatherapy and massage therapy applications is sometimes used to supplement or adulterate more expensive rose oils. Other applications include

• Natural insect repellent
• Cake ingredient (flowers and leaves)
• Jam and jellies ingredient (flowers and leaves)
• Ice creams and Sorbets ingredient (flowers and leaves)
• Salad ingredient (flowers)
• Claimed that its fragrance purified unhealthy indoor air and able to keep diseases out.
• Sugar flavoring (leaves)
• The fresh leaves are used as a flavoring agent for tea in Iraq

(info and pictures from Wikipedia)

Rose geranium essential oil (Pelargonium roseum asperum) is a pale yellow to pale green liquid displaying a sweet, fresh, green-leafy, roseaceous bouquet with a delicate herbaceous/minty undertone.

In natural perfumery used in fougere, chypre, high class florals, green notes, herbal bouquets, new mown hay.

(info courtesy of White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

There are four main species of Boswellia which produce true frankincense and each type of resin is available in various grades. The grades depend on the time of harvesting, and the resin is hand-sorted for quality.

Frankincense is tapped from the very scraggy but hardy Boswellia tree by slashing the bark, which is called striping, and allowing the exuded resins to bleed out and harden. These hardened resins are called tears. There are numerous species and varieties of frankincense trees, each producing a slightly different type of resin. Differences in soil and climate create even more diversity of the resin, even within the same species.

Frankincense trees are also considered unusual for their ability to grow in environments so unforgiving that they sometimes grow directly out of solid rock. The means of initial attachment to the stone is not known but is accomplished by a bulbous disk-like swelling of the trunk. This disk-like growth at the base of the tree prevents it from being torn away from the rock during the violent storms that frequent the region they grow in. This feature is slight or absent in trees grown in rocky soil or gravel. The tears from these hardy survivors are considered superior for their more fragrant aroma.

The trees start producing resin when they are about 8 to 10 years old.  Tapping is done 2 to 3 times a year with the final taps producing the best tears due to their higher aromatic terpene, sesquiterpene and diterpene content. Generally speaking, the more opaque resins are the best quality. Although fine resin is also produced more extensively in Yemen and along the northern coast of Somalia, from which the Roman Catholic Church draws its supplies.

Recent studies have indicated that frankincense tree populations are declining, partly due to over-exploitation. Heavily tapped trees have been found to produce seeds that germinate at only 16% while seeds of trees that had not been tapped germinate at more than 80%. In addition, burning, grazing, and attacks by the longhorn beetle have reduced the tree population.

Frankincense has been traded on the Arabian Peninsula and in North Africa for more than 5000 years.  A mural depicting sacks of frankincense traded from the Land of Punt adorns the walls of the temple of ancient Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut, who died in circa 1458 BCE.

Frankincense was a part of the Ketoret which is used when referring to the consecrated incense described in the Hebrew Bible and Talmud. It is also referred to as the HaKetoret (the incense). It was offered on the specialized incense altar in the time when the Tabernacle was located in the First and Second Jerusalem Temples. The ketoret was an important component of the Temple service in Jerusalem. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible book of Exodus 30:34, where it is named levonah (lebonah in Biblical_Hebrew), meaning “white” in Hebrew.

“While burning incense was accepted as a practice in the later Roman Catholic church, the early church during Roman times forbade the use of incense in services resulting in a rapid decline in the incense trade.”

Frankincense was reintroduced to Europe by Frankish Crusaders (Frank-incense). Although it is better known as “frankincense” to westerners, the resin is also known as olibanum, which is derived from the Arabic al-lubān (roughly translated: “that which results from milking”), a reference to the milky sap tapped from the Boswellia tree. Some have also postulated that the name comes from the Arabic term for “Oil of Lebanon” since Lebanon was the place where the resin was sold and traded with Europeans.

The lost city of Ubar, sometimes identified with Irem in what is now the town of Shisr in Oman, is believed to have been a center of the frankincense trade along the recently rediscovered “Incense Road”. Ubar was rediscovered in the early 1990s and is now under archaeological excavation.

The Greek historian Herodotus was familiar with Frankincense and knew it was harvested from trees in southern Arabia. He reports, however, that the gum was dangerous to harvest because of venomous snakes that lived in the trees. He goes on to describe the method used by the Arabians to get around this problem, that being the burning of the gum of the styrax tree whose smoke would drive the snakes away.  The resin is also mentioned by Theophrastus and by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia.

Southern Arabia was a major exporter of frankincense in ancient times, with some of it being traded as far as China. The Chinese writer and customs inspector Zhao Rugua wrote on the origin of Frankincense being traded to China:

“Ruxiang or xunluxiang comes from the three Dashi countries of Murbat (Maloba), Shihr (Shihe), and Dhofar (Nufa), from the depths of the remotest mountains.  The tree which yields this drug may generally be compared to the pine tree. Its trunk is notched with a hatchet, upon which the resin flows out, and, when hardened, turns into incense, which is gathered and made into lumps. It is transported on elephants to the Dashi (on the coast), who then load it upon their ships to exchange it for other commodities in Sanfoqi. This is the reason why it is commonly collected at and known as a product of Sanfoqi.”

Ruxiang was the Chinese name for frankincense, and Dashi the Chinese name for Arabia.

Frankincense comes in many types, and its quality is based on color, purity, aroma, age, and shape. Silver and Hojari are generally considered the highest grades of frankincense. The Omanis themselves generally consider Silver to be a better grade than Hojari, though most Western connoisseurs think that it should be the other way round. This may be due to climatic conditions with the Hojari smelling best in the relatively cold, damp climate of Europe and North America, whereas Silver may well be more suited to the hot dry conditions of Arabia.

Local market information in Oman suggests that the term Hojari encompasses a broad range of high-end frankincense including Silver. Resin value is determined not only by fragrance but also by color and clump size, with lighter color and larger clumps being more highly prized. The most valuable Hojari frankincense locally available in Oman is even more expensive than Somalia’s Maydi frankincense derived from B. frereana (see below). The vast majority of this ultra-high-end B. sacra frankincense is purchased by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said the ruler of Oman, and is notoriously difficult for western buyers to correctly identify and purchase.

Frankincense is used in perfumery and aromatherapy. Frankincense essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of the dry resin. Some of the smell of the frankincense smoke is due to the products of pyrolysis.

Frankincense is lavishly used in many Christian Churches including the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic Churches. According to the gospel of Matthew 2:11, gold, frankincense, and myrrh were among the gifts to Jesus by the Biblical Magi “from out of the East.”

The Egyptians ground the charred resin into a powder called kohl. Kohl was used to make the distinctive black eyeliner seen on so many figures in Egyptian art. The aroma of frankincense is said to represent life and the Judaic, Christian, and Islamic faiths have often used frankincense mixed with oils to anoint newborn infants and individuals considered to be moving into a new phase in their spiritual lives.

The growth of Christianity depressed the market for frankincense during the 4th century AD. Desertification made the caravan routes across the Rub’ al Khali or “Empty Quarter” of the Arabian Peninsula more difficult. Additionally, increased raiding by the nomadic Parthians in the Near East caused the frankincense trade to dry up after about A.D. 300.

Frankincense resin is edible and often used in various traditional medicines in Asia for digestion and healthy skin. Edible frankincense must be pure for internal consumption, meaning it should be translucent, with no black or brown impurities. It is often light yellow with a (very) slight greenish tint. It is often chewed like gum, but it is stickier because it is a resin.

In Ayurvedic medicine Indian frankincense (Boswellia serrata), commonly referred to as “dhoop,” has been used for hundreds of years for treating arthritis, healing wounds, strengthening the female hormone system, and purifying the atmosphere from undesirable germs. The use of frankincense in Ayurveda is called “dhoopan“. In Indian culture, it is suggested that burning frankincense daily in the house brings good health.

Burning frankincense repels mosquitoes and thus helps protect people and animals from mosquito-borne illnesses, such as malaria, West Nile Virus, and Dengue Fever.

The essential oil of frankincense is produced by steam distillation of the tree resin. The oil’s chemical components are 75% monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, monoterpenoles, sesquiterpenols, and ketones. It has a good balsamic and sweet fragrance, while the Indian frankincense oil has a very fresh smell.

Olibanum is characterized by a balsamic-spicy, slightly lemon, and typical fragrance of incense, with a slightly conifer-like undertone. It is used in the perfume as well as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries.

Standardized preparations of Indian frankincense from Boswellia serrata are being investigated in scientific studies as a treatment for chronic inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and osteoarthritis.  Initial clinical study results indicate efficacy of incense preparations for Crohn’s disease.  For therapy trials in ulcerative colitis, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis there are only isolated reports and pilot studies from which there is not yet sufficient evidence of safety and efficacy. Similarly, the long-term effects and side effects of taking frankincense has not yet been scientifically investigated. Boswellic acid in vitro anti-proliferative effects on various tumor cell lines (such as melanoma, glioblastomas, liver cancer) are based on induction of apoptosis. A positive effect has been found in the use of incense on the accompanying specimens of brain tumors, although in smaller clinical trials. Some scientists say the results are due to methodological flaws. The main active compound of Indian incense is viewed as being boswellic acid.

As of May 2008 FASEB Journal announced that Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have determined that frankincense smoke is a psychoactive drug that relieves depression and anxiety in mice.  The researchers found that the chemical compound incensole acetate is responsible for the effects.

In a different study, an enriched extract of “Indian Frankincense” (usually Boswellia serrata) was used in a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study of patients with osteoarthritis. Patients receiving the extract showed significant improvement in their arthritis in as little as seven days. The compound caused no major adverse effects and, according to the study authors, is safe for human consumption and long-term use.

In a study published in March 2009 by the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center it was reported that “Frankincense oil appears to distinguish cancerous from normal bladder cells and suppress cancer cell viability.”

These are some of the chemical compounds present in frankincense:

• “acid resin (56 per cent), soluble in alcohol and having the formula C₂₀H₃₂O₄“
• gum (similar to gum arabic) 30–36%
• 3-acetyl-beta-boswellic acid (Boswellia sacra)
• alpha-boswellic acid (Boswellia sacra)
• 4-O-methyl-glucuronic acid (Boswellia sacra)
• incensole acetate
• phellandrene

(info and pictures from Wikipedia)

Somalian frankincense essential oil (Boswellia carterii) is a colorless to pale yellow liquid displaying a fresh, sweet resinous-terpenic bouquet with a delightful sweet, balsamic undertone

In natural perfumery used in sacred perfumes, incense bouquets, ayurvedic preparations, aromatherapy blends, Oriental bouquets, resinous accord, colognes, high class florals, amber accords

“It gives delightful effects in citrus colognes where it modifies the sweetness of bergamot and orange oils. A similar efferct is obtained in rather difficult ‘fresh’ perfume notes such as verbena, citrus etc where olibanum and citral form useful bases for further modifying work. Olibanum oil in itself is a base for all the ‘incense’ or ‘olibanum’ type perfumes and specialities and it is an important ingredient in many Oriental bases, ambres, ‘powder’ type perfumes, floral perfumes, citrus colognes, spice blends, violet perfumes, ‘men’s fragrances, etc” Steffen Arctander

Indian frankincense essential oil (Boswellia serrata) is a colorless to pale yellow liquid displaying a green, resinous,peppery coniferous bouquet with a delicate balsamic-citrus undertone of short duration.

In natural perfumery used in incense bouquets, sacred perfumes, forest notes, chypre, colognes, Oriental bases, amber accords, ayurvedic preparations, aromatherapy blends. It works primarily as a topnote material.

Frankincense co2 select (Boswellia carterii) is a light yellow liquid displaying a soft, suave, sweet, resinous bouquet with a delicate fresh-green, citrus, powdery-floral undertone. The topnote is much softer than the essential oil but the heart/base note is more complex and tenacious. As the dryout proceeds the true beauty of the co2 extract is revealed.

In natural perfumery extensively used in sacred perfumes, incense notes, oriental bouquets, amber bases, forest notes,holiday creations, spice accords.

(info from White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

It is a small shrub, growing to 1–2 m tall. The leaves are alternate, simple, 3–5 cm long and broad, and palmately lobed with five lobes, with a serrated margin. The flowers are 4–6 mm diameter, with five reddish-green to brownish petals; they are produced in racemes 5–10 cm long.

When not in fruit, the plant looks similar to the redcurrant shrub, distinguished by a strong fragrance from leaves and stems. The fruit is an edible berry 1 cm diameter, very dark purple in colour, almost black, with a glossy skin and a persistent calyx at the apex, and containing several seeds dense in nutrients. An established bush can produce up to 5 kilograms of berries during summer.

Plants from Asia are sometimes distinguished as a separate variety, Ribes nigrum var. sibiricum, or even as a distinct species Ribes cyathiforme.

There are many cultivars of blackcurrant, including: Amos Black, Ben Alder, Ben Avon, Ben Connan, Ben Dorain, Ben Gairn, Ben Hope, Ben Lomond, Ben Loyal, Ben More, Ben Sarek, Ben Tirran, Ben Zona, Big Ben, Boskoop Giant, Cotswold Cross and Wellington XXX.

New varieties are being developed continually to improve frost tolerance, disease resistance, machine harvesting, fruit quality, nutritional content and fruit flavour. Two new releases from a black currant breeding program in British Columbia, Canada – Blackcomb and Tahsis – were selected for their immunity to White Pine Blister Rust and frost tolerance.

Varieties producing green fruit, less strongly flavoured and sweeter than typical blackcurrants, are cultivated in Finland, where they are called “greencurrants” (viherherukka).

Pre-plant preparation It is important that there is complete weed eradication for one season before planting. The use of herbicides for broadleaf weeds and grass is recommended. Additionally the soil should be tested for nematodes; fumigation may be recommended for areas with a significant presence of virus vector nematodes.

Growers should assess general fertility of planting site (e.g. nutrients, pH) to ensure the site meets the recommended planting conditions as outlined in the corresponding growers’ guide (www.berrycrops.net). Manage crop requirements with annual soil sample indicating raspberries as the crop being tested (nobody will know the requirements for Ribes); Amend pH to 6 – 6.5.

Access to adequate irrigation and drainage are very important to consider before planting.

Pest controls – See BC Currant and gooseberry pest control guide or extension agents for approved controls

Weed control – Growers can use organic mulch (including sawdust and straw), heavy plastic with an organic mulch cover, or landscape fabric as means of suppressing weed growth. If chemical herbicides are to be used, check with Agriculture Extension people to ensure the use of registered and appropriate substances.

Pruning – annual pruning of old wood and shoots that are less than ~45 degrees to the ground is critical to crop management and machine harvest. Often if pruning of leaning shoots is neglected, the weight of the fruit they bear will bring them to the ground where the fruit will rot or be damaged. Pruning can be done by hand or mechanically.

Disease Ribes plants are susceptible to an array of diseases, including the most prominent, white pine blister rust and mildew . There are, however, new varieties being developed, or have already been developed, to overcome some of these diseases:

White Pine Blister Rust – immunity: Tahsis, Blackcomb (BC breeding program – MBC) Mildew – resistance: Whistler, Blackcomb, Tahsis, Nechako

Currant and gooseberry leaf spot (Drepanopeziza ribis) is another disease, but it is not usually a serious problem for most varieties developed through prominent breeding programs.

During World War II, most fruits rich in vitamin C, such as oranges, became almost impossible to obtain in the United Kingdom. Since blackcurrant berries are a rich source of vitamin C and blackcurrant plants are suitable for growing in the UK climate, blackcurrant cultivation was encouraged by the British government. Soon, the yield of the nation’s crop increased significantly. From 1942 on, almost the entire British blackcurrant crop was made into blackcurrant syrup (or cordial) and distributed to the nation’s children free, giving rise to the lasting popularity of blackcurrant flavourings in Britain.

Blackcurrants were once popular in the United States as well, but became rare in the 20th century after currant farming was banned in the early 1900s, when blackcurrants, as a vector of white pine blister rust, were considered a threat to the U.S. logging industry.  The federal ban on growing currants was shifted to jurisdiction of individual states in 1966, and was lifted in New York State in 2003 through the efforts of horticulturist Greg Quinn. As a result, currant growing is making a comeback in New York, Vermont, Connecticut and Oregon.  However, several statewide bans still exist including Maine and New Hampshire.

Since the American federal ban ceased currant production nationally for nearly a century, the fruit remains largely unknown in the United States, and has yet to regain its previous popularity to levels enjoyed in Europe or New Zealand. Owing to its unique flavour and richness in polyphenols, dietary fibre and essential nutrients, awareness and popularity of blackcurrant is once again growing, with a number of consumer products entering the market.

The fruit has extraordinarily high vitamin C content (302% of the Daily Value per 100 g, table), good levels of potassium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin B₅, and a broad range of other essential nutrients (nutrient table, right).

Other phytochemicals in the fruit (polyphenols/anthocyanins) have been demonstrated in laboratory experiments with potential to inhibit inflammation mechanisms suspected to be at the origin of heart disease, cancer, microbial infections or neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease.  Major anthocyanins in blackcurrant pomace are delphinidin-3-O-glucoside, delphinidin-3-O-rutinoside, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside which are retained in the juice concentrate among other yet unidentified polyphenols.

Blackcurrant seed oil is also rich in many nutrients, especially vitamin E and several unsaturated fatty acids including alpha-linolenic acid and gamma-linolenic acid.  In a human pilot study, ingestion of blackcurrant seed oil by mothers reduced atopic dermatitis in their breast-fed newborns who were supplemented with the oil over two years.

In the UK, blackcurrant cordial is often mixed with cider (hard cider) to make a drink called “Cider and Black” or if made with the popular British cider Strongbow a “Bow and Black”. If made with any common British lager beer, it is known as a “Lager and Black”. The addition of blackcurrant to a mix of cider and lager results in “Diesel” or “Snakebite and Black” available at pubs. Adding a small amount of blackcurrant juice to Guinness is preferred by some to heighten the taste of the popular stout. Macerated blackcurrants are also the primary ingredient in the apéritif crème de cassis. Japan imports $3.6 million of New Zealand blackcurrants for uses as dietary supplements, snacks, functional food products and as quick-frozen (IQF) produce for culinary production as jams, jellies or preserves.  In Russia, blackcurrant leaves may be used for flavouring tea or preserves. Sweetened vodka may also be infused with blackcurrant leaves or berries, making a deep yellowish-green beverage with a sharp flavour and astringent taste.

Besides being juiced and used in jellies, syrups, and cordials, blackcurrants are also used in cooking because their astringency creates flavour in many sauces, meat dishes, and desserts.

It was once thought that currants needed to be “topped and tailed” (the flower remnants and the stalks removed) before cooking.  This is not the case, though, as these parts are easily assimilated during the cooking process. If one prefers, the whole blackcurrant stem and fruit can be frozen, then shaken vigorously. The tops and tails will break off, and the fruit can then be easily separated.

Ribena, a non-carbonated soft drink flavored with blackcurrants, takes its name from Ribes.

Blackcurrant berries have a distinctive sweet and sharp taste popular in jam, juice, ice cream, and liqueur. They are a common ingredient of Rødgrød, a popular kissel-like dessert in North German and Danish cuisines. In the UK, Europe and Commonwealth countries, some types of confectionery include a blackcurrant flavour, and in Belgium and the Netherlands, cassis is a flavoured currant soft drink. In the United States, blackcurrant flavour is rather rare in candies and jellies compared to UK sweets. In the United States, grape flavour is often used in brands of candy where blackcurrant would appear in Europe. Blackcurrant liqueur mixed with white wine is called Kir or Kir Royale when mixed with Champagne.

(info and pictures from Wikipedia)

Black Currant Absolute is a dark green grainy solid mass displaying an intense green, resinous, fruity odor with a spicy-woody undertone. In the dryout phase the resinous note melds beautifully with the spicy-woody note creating a soft sweet elegant landing for the absolute

In natural perfumery can have a wide range of applications in providing unique notes to amber bases; ambergris re-creations; new mown hay; herbaceous perfumes; incense notes; oriental notes; tea perfumes; culinary creations; in high class florals as an accent note; forest bouquets. It is one of those unique absolute that can infuse a special life into a perfume creation. A little bit can have a profound effect on any perfume into which it is incorporated.

(info from White Lotus Aromatics Blog)

The plant is used to flavor foods, in tisanes, perfumes, and cosmetics.  It is used to make a rinse for blonde hair, and is popular in aromatherapy, whose practitioners believe it to be a calming agent to end stress and aid in sleep.^{[citation needed]}

The word chamomile comes from Greek χαμαίμηλον (chamaimēlon), “earth-apple”, from χαμαί (chamai), “on the ground” + μήλον (mēlon), “apple”, so called because of the applelike scent of the plant. (Note: The “ch-” spelling is used especially in science and pharmacology.)

Chamomile is mentioned in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, part 1 ‘The Camomile; The more it is trodden on, the faster it grows’.

Mary Wesley’s novel The Camomile Lawn was also televised in Great Britain in the 1990s.

The lawns of Buckingham Palace, London use camomile instead of grass.

Use of chamomile dates back as far as ancient Egypt where it was dedicated to their gods.  Folk remedies using the plant include treatments for dropsy and jaundice. It was also believed to revive any wilting plant placed near it.  The flowers were also used as a dye to lighten hair.

Chamomile is considered to be an antiseptic, antibiotic, disinfectant, bactericidal & vermifuge.

(info and pictures from Wikipedia)

Blue chamomile oil (Matricaria chamomilla, M.recutita) is a blue to greenish blue liquid displaying a sweet, herbaceous, coumarinic bouquet with a warm fruity, balsamic undertone of good tenacity

In natural perfumery used in fruit accords, herbaceous bouquets, high class florals, apothecary blends

“True chamomile oil is usedin very small percentages in high-class perfumes to introduce a warm, rich undertone which lasts through all stages of evaporation.” Steffen Arctander

The essential oil of Wild chamomile (Ormenis multicaulis syn Ormenis mixta) is a pale yellow liquid displaying a sweet fruity, balsamic,, herbacoeus bouquet with a honeyed, ambery, powdery undertone of good duration

In natural perfumery would find use chypre, fougere, citrus cologne, herbaceous cologne, ambre bases, floral-herbaceous creations, geographical perfumes

“The oil finds application in citrus-colognes, ambre, chypre and fougere-bases, as well in in a multitude of other bases where a fresh modification of ambre-herbaceous notes are called for(lavender, pine, etc) Even trace amounts of this oil may introduce a delightful topnote in herbaceous or herbaceous-floral fragrance.”
Steffen Arctander

English chamomile essential oil is a clear to pale blue liquid displaying a delicate, fresh sweet, herbaceous bouquet with a fruity, balsamic undertone

In natural perfumery used in herbaceous notes, high class florals, apothecary blends, colognes, fougere, chypre

“It imparts a warm, yet fresh note and a natural depth which is difficult to obtain by other means” Steffen Arctander

(info from White Lotus Aromatics Blog)