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Onions, garlic and chives

post #1 of 11
10/8/09 at 6:05am
Thread Starter 
When I was cutting my lawn last Sunday, I got a whiff of newly mown wild chives that grow sporadically in my lawn in autumn. They smell wonderful.

And it made me think of fragrance and how the envelope is pushed in some directions and not in others.

There are fragrances with fecal notes, urinous notes and notes that are interpreted as body odor (e.g., cumin). But has anyone ever integrated aromachemicals from plants of the genus allium (e.g., onions, leeks, garlic, chives) into fragrance?

No, I don't want to smell like chives or garlic, per se. But obviously the integration of aromachemicals can produce results far more complex and different than the raw materials from which they derive.
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post #2 of 11
10/8/09 at 9:40am
Every time I chop fennel, for a side dish that Ray and I always eat with Italian food, I think the same question: why the HELL is noone doing a fragrance that smells like this?

My guess is, the only places you're going to find something like this is at Demeter or CB I Hate Perfume.
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post #3 of 11
10/8/09 at 9:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by scentsitivity View Post

When I was cutting my lawn last Sunday, I got a whiff of newly mown wild chives that grow sporadically in my lawn in autumn. They smell wonderful.

And it made me think of fragrance and how the envelope is pushed in some directions and not in others.

There are fragrances with fecal notes, urinous notes and notes that are interpreted as body odor (e.g., cumin). But has anyone ever integrated aromachemicals from plants of the genus allium (e.g., onions, leeks, garlic, chives) into fragrance?

No, I don't want to smell like chives or garlic, per se. But obviously the integration of aromachemicals can produce results far more complex and different than the raw materials from which they derive.

You really must like the topnotes of Rocabar
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post #4 of 11
10/8/09 at 10:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by scentsitivity View Post

When I was cutting my lawn last Sunday, I got a whiff of newly mown wild chives that grow sporadically in my lawn in autumn. They smell wonderful.

And it made me think of fragrance and how the envelope is pushed in some directions and not in others.

There are fragrances with fecal notes, urinous notes and notes that are interpreted as body odor (e.g., cumin). But has anyone ever integrated aromachemicals from plants of the genus allium (e.g., onions, leeks, garlic, chives) into fragrance?

No, I don't want to smell like chives or garlic, per se. But obviously the integration of aromachemicals can produce results far more complex and different than the raw materials from which they derive.

I really don't know much about this, but it's such an original and interesting question that I thought I would take a stab at some suggestions.

First, most of the aromatic components of the genus Allium involved sulphur, which in compound form is a notoriously difficult substance to work with aromatically in the sense that it dominates the composition and can produce very unpleasant effects.

Developing aromatic compounds from things such as the Allium genus and from herbs, because of their delicate nature represents extraction problems as I understand it. To put it another way, you're not necessarily going to get the aromatic match up when you extract essential oils from members of the Allium family or certain herbs because most of the delicate aromatic components we smell when we prepare them for food are the most volatile compounds and hence libel to not survive the distillation process. I suspect that what one gets when one puts such things through the distillation process is something decidedly less delicate and more strident. Much of this is surmise.

scentemental

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post #5 of 11
10/8/09 at 10:43am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by scentemental View Post

I really don't know much about this, but it's such an original and interesting question that I thought I would take a stab at some suggestions.

First, most of the aromatic components of the genus Allium involved sulphur, which in compound form is a notoriously difficult substance to work with aromatically in the sense that it dominates the composition and can produce very unpleasant effects.

Developing aromatic compounds from things such as the Allium genus and from herbs, because of their delicate nature represents extraction problems as I understand it. To put it another way, you're not necessarily going to get the aromatic match up when you extract essential oils from members of the Allium family or certain herbs because most of the delicate aromatic components we smell when we prepare them for food are the most volatile compounds and hence libel to not survive the distillation process. I suspect that what one gets when one puts such things through the distillation process is something decidedly less delicate and more strident. Much of this surmise and is based on some general facts.

scentemental


Those are helpful thoughts, scentemental. Subesequent to reading this I went to the Bo Jensen website (http://www.bojensen.net/EssentialOil...s12.htm#Garlic) and he reports:

The undamaged garlic is without odour, but on cutting or pressing it, strongly odoriferous and chemically reactive sulphur compounds are immediately generated. This mechanism protects the garlic against parasites and moulds, and is due to an enzymatic generation of allicin (diallyl disulphide sulphoxide) from the stable compound alliin (S-allyl-L-cystein sulphoxide). The odour of freshly cut garlic comes from allicin. Further reaction may result in additional powerful odorant like diallyl disulphide and vinyl-[4H]-dithiines.
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post #6 of 11
10/8/09 at 11:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeperez23 View Post

Every time I chop fennel, for a side dish that Ray and I always eat with Italian food, I think the same question: why the HELL is noone doing a fragrance that smells like this?

My guess is, the only places you're going to find something like this is at Demeter or CB I Hate Perfume.

I love fennel, too! It's become naturalized locally, so you'll often walk by massive clumps of fennel the size of small trees. The smell is lovely.

The list of fragrances with fennel notes in the Directory doesn't seem to come up with any soliflores, though...
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post #7 of 11
10/8/09 at 11:24am
I really like the smell of celery. Although I'm not sure if it'd actually make a good ingredient for a fragrance.
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post #8 of 11
10/8/09 at 12:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by somnambulist07 View Post

I really like the smell of celery. Although I'm not sure if it'd actually make a good ingredient for a fragrance.

There are fragrances with a celery note. The one that comes across to me that way is Bond no. 9 Wall Street.
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post #9 of 11
10/8/09 at 12:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by somnambulist07 View Post

I really like the smell of celery. Although I'm not sure if it'd actually make a good ingredient for a fragrance.

If you can find it, give Mandarine Mandarin a try. Very distinct celery note.
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post #10 of 11
10/8/09 at 12:40pm
I have a material, Dimethyl Sulfide, which smells like onions, cabbage, cooked corn, etc. It's kind of nasty, but it smells like someone's kitchen when cooking a big pot of crab legs and all the fixins'. I think a trace amount of it could be slipped into a marine scent to provide a bit of "grit"-- but I could be way off.
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post #11 of 11
10/8/09 at 12:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by somnambulist07 View Post

I really like the smell of celery. Although I'm not sure if it'd actually make a good ingredient for a fragrance.

Yatagan is infamous for its alleged celery note (among other things).
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