Ylang-Ylang Oil

#### Ylang-Ylang Oil. So much has been written about this important perfume oil that the author is inclined to limit this monograph to a number of references to the literature. On the other hand, this book also aims at giving condensed and yet concise information on all the available natural materials for perfumes and flavors. **Ylang-Ylang Oil **has been called “the poor man’s jasmin”, a nickname which the author strongly resents. He would rather call it “everybody’s ylang-ylang”. A good ylang-ylang oil need not be compared to any other perfume oil. It is so unusual in itself, so simple and yet so complex of odor, so generally popular a fragrance, that it easily finds its own place in perfumery, not merely as a replacement for jasmin, but as an improvement to almost any type of floral fragrance. However, one might say that the essential oil is poorer than the absolute of ylang-ylang from a viewpoint of floral fineness and magnificence. The oil is produced by water distillation or water-and-steam distillation of the freshly early-morning-picked flowers from **Cananga Odorata**, a tree which is native to Indonesia and perhaps the Philippines. All ylang-ylang oils of today are produced from flowers of cultivated trees. Cultivation is most extensive in the Comoro islands, in Nossi-Bé, northwestern Madagascar, while the plantations in the Philippines and Indonesia are of minor importance. Smaller cultivations are found in Haiti, in Zanzibar, in a few of the French South Pacific islands, in Réunion (where two producers turn out about one metric ton per year), and in some of the West Indian islands. About 80% of the world production is derived from the Comoro islands and Nossi-Bé. All trees in these two areas are topped at an early age, causing the branches to grow horizontally. This facilitates the harvesting of the tender yellow flowers, tedious but very important handwork. Distillation is carried out in rather small stills since the flower material would suffer considerably by the weight and pressure of a heavy charge of flowers. The distillation of the oil (or, the collection of condensate) is usually interrupted, the first distillate being collected separately, and then a second distillate being collected over a longer period. Finally, a third distillate is collected over a period of 24 hours or even more. By controlling the specific gravity of the distillate, the various producers make the interruptions at the moment when they feel that the oil can be classified within one of these groups. The specific gravity is often over 1.000 in the very first distillate, then it slowly decreases. Although the “extra” quality is usually standardized at a specific gravity of 0.975 to 0.985 (at 25*°** *C.), this specification is no guarantee of the genuineness of the oil (see below). Adulteration or contamination of the ylang-ylang flowers with flowers of **Artabotrys**** ****Suaveolens**** **(see this monograph) occurs not infrequently in the oils from Indonesia and the Philippines. The first distillate of ylang-ylang oil, usually the first 30 to *45 *% of the total distillate, is called **Ylang-Ylang Extra**. There is no standard as to the physico-chemical properties of **“Extra” **or any of the other grades, but it is left to the distiller’s discretion to make the correct fractionation during the distillation. After the “extra” quality comes **Ylang-Ylang First **(“premiere”), then the **Second **(“seconde”) and finally **Ylang-Ylang Third**** **(“troisième”) (see also monograph on **Ylang-Ylang Complete).** Obviously, there are various qualities of “extra” which is the most wanted grade. On the other hand, the economy of the entire production of ylang-ylang oils is based upon a sale of all the grades. Accordingly, the “extra” is by far the most expensive even if it amounts to almost half the yield of oil. The chemist will often judge the oil according to its ester content, but this figure is unfortunately an easy one to “arrange” by the addition of synthetic esters. Consequently, ylang-ylang oils can only be evaluated properly by an experienced perfumer who has a standard of odor in his mind (or perhaps, if necessary, on his shelf). The author finds that the classical grading of ylang-ylang oils in “extra”, “first”, “second” and “third” has become so inconsistent that it serves no purpose to describe the individual grades. Furthermore, there is little or no interest for the “second” and “first” grades. Most consumers want a good “extra” oil and a good “third” oil. With the latter, they often make a replacement for **Cananga**** ****Oil**** **(see this monograph) which was unavailable for many years until recently. The unfortunate “first” and “second” oils form the major part of the so-called **Ylang-Ylang**** ****Complete **(see monograph). **Ylang-Ylang**** ****Extra**** **is a pale yellow oil with a very powerful, floral and intensely sweet odor and a cresylic and benzoate-like topnote of limited tenacity. The fadeout is more pleasant, soft and sweet, slightly spicy and balsamic-floral. A high- grade “extra” oil resembles the absolute of ylang-ylang in odor type very closely. The former is, however, often more sharp-cresylic in its topnote. A peculiar creamy-sweet note is characteristic of good “extra” oils; this note appears very early in the evaporation, although it seems to be present also in the higher boiling fractions (in good “third” oils), and it definitely is missing in the first fractions when “extra” is vacuum-redistilled. This suave, soft and persistent note is very difficult to reproduce in artificial ylang-ylang oils. **Ylang-Ylang Extra **is used mainly in high-class perfumes of the floral and heavy-Oriental type, but mere traces of the oil can do wonders in medium-priced floral bases. There is hardly any floral type, where ylang-ylang “extra” would not fit in. The oil blends excellently with bois de rose, vetiver, amyl salicylate, opopanax, bergamot, hydroxycitronellal, mimosa, cassie, methylionones, cinnamic alcohol and esters, benzoates, paracresyl esters (ethers), nerolidol, Peru balsam oil, vertenex HC, etc. and with gardenia bases, stephanotis bases, tuberose bases, etc. **Ylang-Ylang Oil “Extra” **is produced in quite substantial quantities per annum. The exact amount is difficult to give since many “borderline” ylang-ylang No. 1 oils are sold as “extra”. The annual world consumption of “extra” quality may be estimated at over 20 metric tons. It is understandable that this quantity is of vital importance for the economy in the very small areas of production (see tables in the rear of this book). Adulteration is a frequent occurrence, and the added materials are countless: the “extra” oil is first of all adulterated with the No. 1, 2 and 3 oils, with vanillin (a bouquetting material), para cresol methyl ether (to give power), methyl benzoate or methyl para-toluate, ethyl benzoate, geraniol, isoeugenol, isosafrol, benzyl alcohol, benzyl benzoate or salicylate, benzyl propionate and cinnamate, anisyl acetone and anisyl alcohol, copaiba oil, Peru balsam oil (mainly in the “second” and “third” grades of ylang-ylang oil), and other natural or synthetic materials, many of which are known and identified in the natural oil of ylang-ylang. **Ylang-Ylang**** ****Oil**** ****“Third”**** **is a yellowish oily liquid of sweet-floral and balsamic-woody odor, with a tenacious and very sweet-balsamic undertone. This oil was once used in place of Cananga Oil (see this monograph), but such a replacement is unjust to both oils. They are not interchangeable, either in floral type nor in fixative effect. With its tenacity and fair stability, the ylang-ylang No. 3 is useful in soap perfumery and as a comparatively low-cost floral material for hyacinths, lilacs, etc. if cost is a major problem. Ylang-Ylang “third” is also frequently adulterated, mainly with high-boiling materials such as benzyl benzoate, cedarwood oil fractions, anisalcohol, copaiba balsam, isosafrol, amyris oil, benzyl salicylate, etc. The oil is the second largest ylang-ylang product next to the “extra” oil. **Ylang-Ylang “First” **and **“Second” **are “inbetween-qualities”, poorly defined, and slowly disappearing from the market. They are used in “cutting” of the other grades of ylang-ylang (upgrading or downgrading!) and in the production of the *so-called** ***Ylang-Ylang**** ****Complete**** ****Oil**** **(see this monograph). ### z