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Today we will talk about the wonderful jasmine flower.
Jasmine is a vine-like shrub that produces the most gorgeous-smelling flowers that are
used to create the finest and most sophisticated libido-boosting jasmine oil perfume.
Now these collected jasmine buds do not smell of anything.
But once the flowers bloom, growers in India refine their coveted fragrance into one of
the most expensive oils in the world.
Just 1 kilogram of jasmine oil can cost over $5,000.
It is a key ingredient in luxury perfumes.
But to get one kilogram of flowers, these women will need to pick more than 5,000 buds.
So, what does jasmine smell like and why is its oil so expensive?
Jasmine is the national flower of many Asian countries.
Its heavenly fragrance is said to bring auspicious events.
Jasmine flowers are brought from far and wide to decorate wedding ceremonies and garland
various deities in temples.
These romantic flowers are symbols of love, hope, affection and motherhood.
The scent of jasmine is sweet, fruity-floral and blends well with other scents.
Although there are more than 80 varieties of jasmine grown in India, large-flowered
jasmine and sambac are two of the most valuable commercially.
Jasmine is considered a divine flower, especially sambac.
Its status among other colors is considered to be one step higher.
In Asia, this is the most beloved flower.
Sambac jasmine is light, friendly and happy.
This is a joyful scent.
The main center for growing jasmine sambac is the vicinity of the city of Madurai, the
jasmine capital of India.
Like any flower, jasmine exudes a strong aroma only after flowering.
But local sellers don't want to deal with jasmine flowers, they want jasmine buds.
This is because when the flower blooms, its fragrance will only last a few days.
Buds last longer and are therefore easier to transport for making garlands or extracting
oil.
Entrepreneur Raja runs a jasmine oil company.
But before the Raja can get the oil, he needs to wait for the day's harvest.
Jasmine is a flower that blooms at night.
In order to harvest the maximum harvest and ensure that the buds reach the markets on
time, flower pickers go to the fields early in the morning.
It is necessary to have time to collect the petals in the morning - from 4 to 6 o'clock.
The concentration of essential oils in inflorescences reaches a peak at the indicated time.
After sunrise, the substances evaporate, so the flowers lose their specific aroma and
a significant part of their beneficial properties.
Only in the early morning will it be possible to obtain high-quality raw materials.
Rati is one of the few women who is trusted to pick buds.
The fact is that this is not an easy job, you can’t grab any bud that catches your
eye.
You should choose petals without defects: spots, black dots and traces of insects.
Jasmine flowers must be dry on the day of picking.
Otherwise, they may not dry out and become moldy.
If it rained, then the collection time is postponed for 1 - 2 days.
Jasmine raw materials from recently blossomed (but not completely) flowers, which are firmly
attached to the stem, are considered ideal.
In the buds, the concentration of essential oils is low, so they do not have a pronounced
aroma.
To understand which buds to collect requires a sharp eye.
Rati has been training her abilities in these fields for the past 10 years.
These buds are not fit to be plucked today.
This one is too small and will be ready in two days.
And this one has already bloomed last night, so you can’t pick it either.
Workers never pluck blooming flowers.
Rati approaches each bush one by one, picking thousands of buds before she picks one kilogram
of flowers.
It will take her about an hour to collect so many buds.
Such manual work must be done carefully so as not to damage the buds.
Damaged or withered buds make it difficult for Rati to work.
In general, the process of collecting jasmine is a very laborious process.
To get an idea of a kilogram of jasmine, you need to see a mountain of five or six thousand
unblown flowers.
Imagine, in order to collect 1 kilogram of buds, the picker's hand must move 5,000 times.
This is the number of times the hand moves back and forth and collects only 1 kg of flowers.
But this number of buds is a tiny fraction of the mass of flowers needed to produce a
kilogram of oil.
To get 1 kilogram of jasmine oil, you need 1 ton of flowers.
While working, Rati gathers the buds into his sari.
This is necessary to protect them and preserve the flavor.
The sari keeps the buds cool.
Otherwise, they would have withered before they hit the market.
No one needs wilted buds, they become useless.
The heat outside can damage them, if you use jute bags, the flowers will wither very quickly
in them.
Therefore, a sari helps a lot when picking flowers.
Rati will pick buds for about five hours straight.
It's tiring, very tiring, but it's very important for her to keep moving before it gets too
hot.
The buds are then sent to the local market.
Entrepreneur Murugan is accustomed to the chaotic life of the market.
He has been purchasing jasmine for oil production for 18 years.
Here, at the market in Nilakottai, he strives to find the highest quality jasmine.
The company purchases only the highest quality products.
Almost all corners of the market are filled with buyers.
Each vendor has a scale next to bags of jasmine buds to determine the right amount to sell.
Today the rate is 500 rupees per kilogram, which is about 385 rubles.
Before buying, the entrepreneur carefully evaluates the buds to determine if the sizes
will match their price.
These buds are too small.
They almost do not smell when they are opened, then their fragrance of flowers cannot be
felt.
Such buds are not suitable for the production of perfumes.
These buds are much better.
They open well and their flavor is very good.
As the sun sets, Raja's workers at the factory begin to unload sacks full of jasmine buds.
First of all, they are raked with a rake, and then distributed by hand.
The correct distribution of buds over the area is crucial for their conservation.
If you leave the flowers in a large pile, then heat will begin to be released, and this
will lead to their withering.
Raja's team then waits for the buds to start blooming.
As soon as the buds begin to bloom, they immediately begin to emit a pleasant aroma.
And then, after some time, you can notice that the flowers begin to emit an unpleasant
smell.
This is due to the fact that chemical reactions are constantly taking place in flowers.
That is why it is so important to catch the floral scent at the right moment, that is,
immediately after the buds open.
This is the best moment in terms of yield and smell.
Like some other white flowers, jasmine is rich in indole.
It may be funny, but indole is also found in feces.
There is too much indole in the faeces, so they emit an unpleasant odor.
But in limited quantities, indole creates an attractive fragrance, as it does with jasmine.
When the jasmine has blossomed, Raja's team loads the flowers into four 5,000 liter extractors.
The process for extracting jasmine oil from jasmine flowers is different from how most
other essential oils are produced.
This is because steam distillation, which is one of the most common methods, can damage
delicate jasmine flowers.
Therefore, solvent extraction is used to produce jasmine oil.
The petals are dipped in a solvent of hexane or ethanol and swirled, releasing the aroma
molecules into the mixture.
The longer the flowers remain in the solvent, the more fragrance oil can be obtained.
Once the solvent has absorbed the scent of the flowers, the liquid is removed.
The result is a waxy substance - the extract.
This is the substance that is used for the final extraction of the oil.
The extract can be used to create solid perfumes or mixed with grain alcohol to remove wax
and color.
After distillation of the alcohol, the liquid is filtered and pure jasmine oil remains.
Jasmine sambac is the most popular and coveted of all jasmine flowers, hence the high price.
At their peak, sambac jasmine flowers can cost up to 10 times more than other types
of jasmine.
Therefore, when it comes to the final price of the oil, it largely depends on the cost
of the flower itself.
About 60% of the basic price of the oil consists of
the cost of the flowers themselves.
Therefore, the price of oil can change every year depending on the price of flowers.
The cost of 1 kg of the concentrated substance ranges from $2,750 to $3,000, while the cost
of a pure product is almost twice that, about $5,500 per kilogram of pure liquid.
But jasmine sambac oil has not always been so valuable.
In fact, before Dior J'Adore launched this fragrance, it was rarely collected.
It was after this that sambak became the most popular.
Before that, although sambac was grown in India, the oil was not
really extracted from it.
Today, jasmine oil extract travels from India to other countries, as far as Paris, where
it is used to produce many expensive fragrances, especially in the oldest perfume house Guerlain.
Guerlain obtains sambac jasmine oil directly from Raja.
The brand name of the perfume house is made from jasmine and five other ingredients.
So jasmine can be found almost everywhere.
The company manufactures all of its perfume blends in-house, including Mon Guerlain.
Jasmine sambac is the star of Mon Guerlain.
There is a top note of lavender which then blends with the floral scent of sambac jasmine.
Then there are the scents of sandalwood and vanilla.
It has such a delicate and unique scent.
The smell of jasmine helps to relax and cope with emotions, tune in to a creative way.
But the beneficial properties of jasmine oil, for many, are still unknown.
Primarily, when applied to the skin, jasmine oil acts as an emollient, helping to retain
moisture.
Applying jasmine oil directly to scars, stretch marks, and dark spots can help improve their
appearance.
Jasmine oil has antiseptic, antimicrobial, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties,
making it ideal for treating skin conditions.
In fact, jasmine oil can help reduce painful acne on the face, neck, chest, back, and even
the scalp.
Jasmine oil helps in the treatment of eczema.
The symptoms of eczema are often aggravated by stress.
Jasmine essential oil helps relieve symptoms of stress and depression, which is beneficial
for eczema.
Also jasmine essential oil can easily penetrate hair follicles and improve hair elasticity.
It is a deeply hydrating oil that also helps to
tame unruly frizzy hair, it detangles hair perfectly and smells great throughout the
day.
That's all.
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