Violet Flower Absolute

#### Violet Flower Absolute. This material is now obtained almost exclusively by alcohol washing of the petroleum ether extracted concrète from the flowers of **Viola**** ****Odorata**. The plant is cultivated on a large scale in the south of France and in Italy for the production of **Violet Leaf Absolute **(see following monograph). Extraction of flowers has become more and more uneconomical and rare. The availability of excellent synthetic materials, reproducing the main odors of the violet flower, and the fact that violet as a fragrance type is not a very popular perfume any more, has resulted in the disappearing of this exquisite flower absolute from the perfumery market. **Violet Flower Absolute **is a greenish-olive colored or creamy-green, viscous liquid of very delicate, sweet-floral odor, truly reminiscent of the violet flowers only when diluted below one percent in an odorless solvent. The author will not guarantee that the samples upon which the above description is based, are true and genuine extraction products, obtained exclusively from violet flowers. It is quite possible that the true products will disappear from the market since their effect is not sufficiently appreciated by the perfumers that it compensates for the high price of the absolute. Prior to World War II, the price of violet flower absolute was about U.S. $ 10,000.— per kilo. True violet flower absolute could be used in high-class perfumes along with cassie absolute, mimosa, boronia, costus, orris, clove bud absolute, ylang-ylang absolute, "gamma"-methyl ionone, "delta"-methyl ionone, sandalwood oil, bergamot oil, dodecanal, myristic aldehyde, isopropyl nonylate, vanoris, vertenex HC, etc. A production in China of violet flower absolute has brought small lots of this rare material to the Asian and European markets since 1958. It is still too early to predict any future for this new item.