ジャスミン・コンクリート
Hoa nhài concrete
Jasminum grandiflorum (also J. sambac)
Jasmin concrète, Jasminum grandiflorum flower cera, Jasmine sambac concrete
Fresh jasmine, ripe fruit, wax, a faint animalic edge. Hints of green tea and honey; indole shows up close. Softer, closer and less diffusive than the absolute.
IFRA 51 has restriction standards (published 2020) for jasmine absolute grandiflorum and jasmine absolute sambac. Concrete is the source of the absolute and carries the same aromatics, so direct use should be checked against these standards.
In the EU, jasmine oil and extract are on the allergen list of Regulation 2023/1545, to be labelled above 0.001 percent in leave-on or 0.01 percent in rinse-off products. Benzyl benzoate, benzyl alcohol, linalool and eugenol are also labelled; benzyl benzoate and benzyl alcohol are IFRA-restricted (2020) and eugenol is IFRA-restricted (2023).
Store sealed, dark and cool; warm gently before use.
| Benzyl acetate | major in grandiflorum absolute fraction |
| Benzyl benzoate | major |
| Linalool | present |
| Phytol | present |
| Indole | low, odour-important |
| (Z)-Jasmone | low, odour-important |
| Methyl jasmonate | trace |
| Plant waxes | large share of the concrete |
Jasmine does not withstand steam distillation: heat damages most of its aromatics. The flowers are therefore solvent-extracted. Fresh flowers are soaked in a non-polar solvent such as hexane; after solvent recovery the concrete remains, a yellow-brown or orange wax. The absolute is the alcohol-soluble part of the concrete after chilling and filtering out the waxes.
Egypt is the largest source of Jasminum grandiflorum concrete, grown in the Nile Delta. India makes concrete from both J. grandiflorum and J. sambac, mainly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Morocco also produces; Grasse now has only a small output.
The flowers open at night and are picked before the sun is high, then extracted the same day. Each kilogram of concrete needs a very large quantity of flowers, so price depends heavily on picking labour.
Many producers in Egypt and India sell concrete to European absolute makers. Some concrete is used directly in attars, solid perfumes and soap, where the natural waxes are not a problem.
Compared with the absolute, the concrete smells softer and closer because the waxes hold the aromatics back. It does not dissolve fully in alcohol, so it is seldom used in alcohol-based perfume. In perfumery it is valued mainly as the source of the absolute and for oil and wax based products.