Calendula absolute

Bitter herb, hay, tea, a little honey and wood. Dark green, dry, not sweet; diluted it shows chamomile-like and tobacco facets.

Calendula absolute has no dedicated standard in the IFRA 51 index.

People allergic to the daisy family (Asteraceae) may react to calendula extracts. The absolute is dark. Store dark, sealed and cool.

Calendula officinalis is an annual daisy with orange or yellow flowers. It originates in the Mediterranean and is widely grown. In Vietnamese it is often called cúc xu xi or kim trản.

Calendula is familiar in cosmetics as an infused oil: dried flowers steeped in vegetable oil to take up oil-soluble compounds, including carotenoid pigments and triterpenoids. The infused oil smells faint and is quite different from the absolute.

An absolute is made in two steps. The raw material is extracted with a non-polar solvent such as hexane to give a waxy concrete. The concrete is then washed with ethanol, chilled to precipitate waxes, filtered and freed of alcohol. What remains is the absolute.

Calendula absolute is an odour material, strong and dark, used in small amounts. It smells of bitter herb, hay and tea rather than fresh flowers. Reported volatiles include sesquiterpenes such as cadinol and cadinene.

In perfumery calendula absolute serves herbal, green chypre and tobacco accords. It pairs with clary sage, hay, Roman chamomile and woods.

The English name marigold covers both Calendula and Tagetes. The two genera differ in chemistry and regulation: Tagetes has an IFRA standard for phototoxicity, Calendula does not.

Calendula absolute is usually a dark green-black paste. It is strong and bitter and is best evaluated diluted. In blends calendula absolute adds a dry bitterness and depth to herbal bases; it also links hay and tobacco notes.