Wormwood Oil

#### Wormwood Oil. See also the monographs on **Artemisia Alba, Artemisia Annua **and **Artemisia Vulgaris**. Wormwood oil is steam distilled from the dried herb (leaves and flowering top) of the plant **Artemisia**** ****Absinthium**. It is known in the U.S.A. as **Mugwort.**** **It should not be confused with the Chinese so-called mugwort. Chinese megwort oil is derived from a different species and the oil contains about 40% borneol. Artemisia absinthium is a native of central and southern Europe where it grows wild in abundance. It is also cultivated in France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Yugoslavia, the southeastern U.S.S.R., North Africa and Brazil. Besides being a common weed in the U.S.A., the plant is cultivated in the midwestern peppermint-spearmint area of Michigan-Indiana-Wisconsin, where the oil is locally distilled. Along with angelica root, anise seed, marjoram herb and numerous other herbs, the dried herb of wormwood is an important ingredient in the flavoring of **Vermouth, **the Italian aperitif (vermouth = wormwood). **Wormwood**** ****Oil**** **is a very dark green, brownish- green or bluish-green colored liquid with an odor that is intensely herbaceous-green, warm and deep, and a sharp and fresh topnote, reminiscent of cedarleaf oil. The body-note is very warm and dry-woody, long-lasting and highly interesting as a unique perfume note. The flavor of wormwood oil is intensely bitter, and it has an astringent mouthfeel and a long-lasting, unpleasant aftertaste. The flavor is pleasant, green-herbaceous, somewhat reminiscent of hop and chamomile only in very high dilution. The bluish or greenish color of wormwood oil is due to the presence of an **Azulene**. These colored hydrocarbons are often found in the essential oils from plants of the family Compositae. However, certain of the **Artemisia**** **species yield colorless oils upon distillation (e.g. the "armoise", the French and North African **Artemisia**** ****Vulgaris**, see this monograph). **Wormwood Oil **is used quite extensively in flavor work in spite of the fact that the herb itself was responsible for the ban in France in 1915 of the production of "absinth" with this herb. It was claimed that the **Thujone **in the plant acts as a narcotic in greater doses, and that it was habit-forming. Thujone is the main constituent of wormwood oil, and this ketone is also responsible for the similarity in odor to the oils of tansy and cedarleaf, partly also to Dalmatian sage oil. The European distillers and wine producers are using several other species of **Artemisia**, but all of these plants contain some thujone. ##### Wormwood Oil Fractions: Considering the fact that more than half the oil is made up of **Thujone**, it is quite surprising that wormwood oil still has an odor so distinctly different from that of cedarleaf. A number of essential oils have been thoroughly investigated during the past 10 or 20 years, particularly with respect to isolating and identifying the characteristic odor principles in the oils. It has often been found that the major constituent (by volume) is not responsible for the characteristic odor of the oil, and that the major constituent can be removed from the oil (e.g. by fractional distillation, isolation by chemical means, etc.) without the oil losing its typical odor (see **Clove Bud Oil, Geranium Oil, Lavandin Oil, **etc.). Consequently, it is logical that several perfume houses have endeavored to prepare fractions of wormwood oil in order to isolate the more interesting notes, e.g. the intensively green-herbaceous note, the dry woody note, and the leatherlike, sweet and tenacious notes. These notes are found in the higher boiling fractions of wormwood oil, thujone being a comparatively low-boiling component. A partially "de-thujonized" wormwood oil thus presents an extremely interesting perfume material which can be utilized in a multitude of new combinations. It blends well with oakmoss; it introduces a true- to-nature herbaceous note in a jasmin, orange- flower or hyacinth; it lends enormous richness to a chypre or a lavender compound; it gives life, warmth and topnote to modern fantasy bases, particularly in combination with a selected oakmoss product. **Wormwood**** ****Absolute**** **has been prepared experimentally, but it is not regularly available. It has been recommended that wild growing plants be used for perfumery purposes since these plants contain less thujone but, to the author's knowledge, this practice is not yet a common one.