SOLEVENT EXTRACTION

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

This is a complicated but gentler process with a volatile solvent used to extract the delicate perfumes of rose and jasmine and also for gums and resins. It produces the most concentrated and expensive essences.

For gums and resins the solvent is usually acetone, for flowers usually petroleum, ether or benzene. Plant material is placed in a vessel and covered with solvent. The mixture is slowly heated, usually electrically, and the solvent extracts the odoriferous principle of the material. This is then filtered, giving a dark – colored paste known as a floral concrete. It contains both natural waxes and odor – bearing matter. The concrete is then agitated with alcohol and chilled. The aromatic constituents are transferred to the alcohol which is distilled leaving the purest of all perfumes a floral absolute, or from the resins and gums, a substance known as a retinoid.