Copy of Lecture delivered by

(Prof.) Shiam C. VARSHNEY

USE OF NATURALS
in Perfumery Compounds
for
INCENCE STICKS
On the occasion of
ONE DAY SEMINAR
Organised Jointly by
FAFAI, EOAI & AIAMA
at
Bangalore
On
February 24, 2008

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

Use of NATURALS in perfumery for

Incense Sticks
by Shiam C. Varshney

During one of the conferences, President of Fragrance Division of M/s

Robertet, (France) said, During last 50 years, all succesfull perfumes,
releseased globally, are based on natural oils.
Dr. Roman Kaiser in his famous Book Meaningful scents around the
World has stated: I have visited so many rain forest biotops during the past ten years in my
quest for new molecules and new scent concepts.
Nature has created innumerous scents as a part of its biological process. The
purpose of creation of individual scents for flowers / herbs etc. is not to
make human life more colorful and nature more attractive to look at but to
sustain the balance of life on earth or to assist the regenerative process of
many living species.
These scents attract pollinators by their most specific odour and also offer
them some food as a bonus to enable the pollinators to visit them again . No
two scents of flowers or herbs resemble each other otherwise there would be
cross-pollination.
The idea of describing this known statements is to emphasize that NATURE
is supreme. Most of the molecules have been created by nature and
discovered and utilized by scientists. Moreover the concepts of scents or, as
perfumers say, the inspiration or creativity comes only after studying,
analyzing, developing & utilizing natural scents of flowers, herbs, woods,
balsams, & berries etc.

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

So, what is perfumery?

During ancient times, perfumery was simply an art based on knowledge of
natural scents and utilizing the same in creating a SCENT which is
pleasant and attractive to human beings.
In order to make this definition more realistic and modern let us add some
more words to it i.e. to create a scent which is unique, pleasant and
attractive to human beings and able to create a lasting impression.
You may apply this definition to all type of fragrances fine as well as
functional but when it comes to functional (more specifically for incense
sticks), a scent should also be cost effective.
Now, NATURAL AND COST EFFECTIVE- these two words do not go
together in many cases but still are very relevant when we are discussing the
use of naturals in creation of fragrance for incense sticks.
Following are some desirable attributes for creating a fragrance for incense
sticks1.
2.
3.
4.

It should be pleasant;
It should be unique;
It should be attractive or SENSUAL;
It should be cost effective;

5.

a) It should be effective on burning or let us say-all

ingredients should be able to evaporate from the stick
before burning or during the process of burning without
degradations.
b) It should not produce any burnt or smoky note.

6.

It should be able to create long lasting impression.

How to incorporate most of

these attributes in a fragrance by using
NATURALSand that too in a most cost effective way, is the main theme
of this lecture today.
By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

Before we start discussing on this main theme, it would be a good exercise

to understand the naturals. Many perfumer/scientists do not understand the
quality and strength of naturals in perfumery.
Many advance analytical techniques are available to scientists / perfumers to
analyze the complex but interesting scents of naturals. The quest for
unfolding the mysteries of natural scents is still so alive as it was 100 years
ago when only a few synthetic molecules were available to perfumers. That
is the reason, the whole modern day perfumery revolves around the
naturals. The importance of naturals in creative perfumery is very well
known to perfumers but still only a few possess the ability and
understanding of using these to their advantage.
A natural is used in a fragrance for its unique character, intensity,
diffusiveness, strength and, over and above, for its naturalizing effect on the
blend.
Naturalizing effect comes from their very complex composition having
hundreds of trace and minor constituents.
However, many perfumers still claim that they generally are able to create
their own lavender or geranium oil (RECON) just by mixing 20/30 major/
minor ingredients.
A natural oil is a mixture of more than hundreds of minor and trace
molecules some of which possessing very low threshold values i.e. below
1.00 ppb in air/water.
Now, let us consider few examples lavender oil, jasmine absolute, &
tuberose absolute.
a) LAVENDER OIL

The known constituents of lavender oil are

MAJOR (More than 1.0%)
Linalool
Linalyl Acetate
Borneol
Terpin- 4- ol

Lavandulyl Acetate
Caryophyllene (Beta)
1- octen-3-yl acetate

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

MINOR (Less than 1% and more than 0.1% )

1-octen-3-ol
3-octanone
Myrecene
Ocimenes
Eucalyptol
Linalool oxides
Camphor
Lavendulol
Caryo oxide

Terpineol
Linalyl formate
Geranyl acetate
Santalene
Farnesene
Cadinenes
Germacrene-D
Undecatriene,
Pinenes
Camphene
3-Octanol
Delta 3 Carene
Cymenes
Limonenes
Terpinenes

TRACES (Less than 0.1%)

Methyl n hexyl ether
Cis- 3-hexenol
Hexenol
Hexyl acetate
3 Octyl acetate
Myroxide
Hexyl Iso butyrate
Methyl cyclo pantiendiene
Crotonaldehyde
Methyl vinyl ketone
1-penten-3-one
1-hexen-3-one
1-octen-3-one
Farnesals
Ionones
Methyl jasmonate
Santalal alfa
Santalal- tri-cyclo eka

Sabinene hydrates
Bornyl acetate
Cumin alcohol
Decyl tiglate
Pino carvyl fomate
Vervenyl acetate
Hexyl hexanoate
Cubebenes
Bourbonenes
Zingeberenes
Lavandulyl iso butyrate
Cadin 4- en-10-ol
Coumrin
Nerolidol Acetate
Humulene
Cadinols
Bicyclosesquiphellendrene
Bisabolol

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

Oceminol
Dihydro para cymene
Crypton
4-thujamole
Hexyl methyl 3-butyrate
Bornyl formate
Thujnyl acetate
Bergamotenes

Calamenene
Photosantalols
Rosefuran
Nerol oxide
Damascenone
Perillene
M.Salicylate
Eugenol
o-hyroxycumin aldehyd
Guaiacol
2-acetyl pyridine
2-iso propentyl 2-methylpyridene and many more
The uniqueness and strength of lavender oil comes from these hundreds of
trace ingredients which are more powerful than the entire sum of major +
minor ingredients. Out of these at least few trace ingredients, possess low
threshold value of less than one ppb.
b)

Jasmine absolute

The known constituents of Jasmine absolute are:MAJOR (More than 1.0%)

Benzyl acetate
Benzyl benzoate
Linalool
Phytol
Isophytol
Iso phytol acetate
Indol
Geranyl linalool
Squalene
Cis-jasmone
Eugenol
Methyl linolenate
Benzyl alcohol
Methyl plamitate
Cis-3-hexenyl benzoate 1.00

20.00
17.00
7.70
9.40
7.40
6.10
3.00
3.20
3.00
1.60
2.20
2.00
1.90
1.50

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

Jasmin Lactone

1.00

Total

88.00

MINOR (Less than 1% and more than 0.1%)

Methyl benzoate
Alpha-farnesene
Nerolidol
Nerolidyl acetate
Methyl trans-(Z)-jasmonate
Methyl-N-acetylanthranilate
Methyl anthranilate
Methyl-N-Methyl anthranilate
Linalool oxides
Phytyl hexadecanoate
Neophytadiene
Gernyl acetate
Cis-3-hexenyl acetate

Benzyl salicylate
Hexahydro franesylacetone
Methyl jasmonate
P-cresol
Neophytadiene
Geraniol
Farnesals
Terpineol
Vanillian
6-Methyl-5-en-2-one
Gamma butralactone
Iso eugenol
Caryophyllene

TRACE (Less than0.1%)

Hexyl butyrate
M.caprylate
Nonanal / Decanal
4-methyl 5-vinyl-nicotenate
Cis-dec-7-en-5-olide
Phenyl acetonitrile
2-Phenyl nitroethane
2-vinyl pyridine

S-decalactone
Jasmonate acid
lactone
Ethyl cis-(Z)jasmonate
Ethyl trans-(Z)jasmonate
Methyl 4,5
dihydrojasmonate
Sulfides

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

2-Methyl quinolene
Hexan-4-olide
Heptane-4-olide
Decan-4-olide
Nonal-4-olide
4-Methyl hex-5-en-4-olide
(cis) dec-7-en-olide
3-Ethyl pyridene
3-vinyl pyridene
3-ethyl-4M pyridene
3-vinyl-4-M pyridene
Methyl and ethyl nicotinates
Iso prop 3 methoxy pyrazine
c)

Tuberose absolute: -

The known constituents of tuberose absolute are:MAJOR (More than 1.0%)

Methyl palmitate
Methyl benzoate
Benzyl benzoate
Ethyl oleate
Alpha-Terpineol
1,8-cineol
Methyl salicylate
Farnesol
Methyl anthranilate

14.5
12.2
10.4
5.3
4.0
3.8
13.6
3.5
2.4

Eugenol methyl ether

Benzyl salicylate
Benzyl alcohol
Palmitate acid
Oleic acid
Total

MINOR (Less than 1% and more than 0.1%)

5-decanolide
Jasmine lactone
TRACE (Less than 0.1%)
Massoialactone

5-Dodecen-4-olide

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

2.2
2.1
1.8
1.4
1.3
68.5

Tuberolactone
5-Undecanolide
5-Dodecanolide
5-Tetradecanolide
4-pentonolide
4-Octanolide
4-Nonanolide
4-Decanolide
4-Undecanolide
4-Dodecanolide
Methyl dihydrocinnamate
Hexyl methyl ether
Phenylacetonitrile

1-Nonen-4-ol
Alpha-damascone
Anethole
6-Methyl-alpha-pyrone
p-Methoxyphenylacetonitrile
Epoxyeugenol
5Z-Octen-4-olide
5Z-Decen-4-olide
6Z-Nonen-4-olide
6Z-Dodecen-4olide
6Z,9Z-Dodecadien-4-olide
Tuberolide
Nitrogen compounds(>10 Nos)

The total odour intensity of these trace constituents is at least 5 times

more than the odour intensity of major and minor ingredients
combined.
Now, let us discuss about various techniques of perfumery and how
naturals are used in these techniques:EASTERN TECHNIQUE OF PERFUMERY
The first technique of fragrance creation, which was the only technique
of the 19th Century, is termed as Eastern Techneque of perfumery as
this was originated in eastern countries including INDIA and practiced
by them for so many years. Phillippe Guerlian, (1925) the promoter of
SHALIMAR, says, India and South East Asia have always
fascinated my family. It is the birthplace of perfumery, the cradle of
civilization, which taught Arabia the art of perfume. Later, fragrant
oils came to Europe from India, Burma, Thailand and Indonesia
along the trade roads through Iran. That is why, my family always
returns to the roots of perfumery, to the orient where perfume
began.
In this technique only naturals are used in the form of essential oils or
absolutes or resinoids or tinctures. However, with the passage of time,
By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

this technique did not proved to be very cost effective and remained
applicable only to classical fragrances, such as JICKY, SHALIMAR,
CHANEL No. 5 etc.
The end of 19th Century, witnessed the synthesis of many aroma
chemicals, which were used by famous perfumery houses to add new
creativity to their formulations.
WESTERN THEORY OF PERFUMERY
Industrial synthesis of natural odorants in 19th century
1855
1855
1866
1870
1876
1883
1884
1885
1886
1890
1891
1892

Benzyl alcohol
Phenyl acetic acid
Coumrin
Benzaldehyde
Vanillian
Phenyl acetic aldehyde
Cinamic aldehyde
Terpineol
Methyl salicylate
Heliotropin
Nitro musks
Ionones

By middle of 20th century, the whole technique was westernized and

use of synthetic chemicals became the art of perfumery. By the end of
20th century, lot of research went in digging further the presence of
hundreds of trace chemicals into natural oils or absolutes and perfumers
started utilizing of potent aroma chemicals in natural
herbs/flowers/woods/roots to create top class classicals.
MODERN THEORY OF PERFUMERY
Using natural oils with nature identical, low threshold molecules, to
create the desired character with natural effects and combining
these with usual synthetic aroma chemicals, is modern art and

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

science of perfumery, which is equally applicable to fragrances for

incense sticks.
Modern technique of perfumery also takes into account the theory of
contrast in perfumery.
Theory of Contrast
Imagine a jasmine without the use of civet, indol, cresol derivatives
and pyrazines or nicotinates or similar animalic note ingredients.
Imagine a Rose without the use of sulfur molecules!
As explained earlier, every flowers scent possesses an attracting power
which comes from many trace ingredients which are part of Dying
Tissue Odours and are classified under animalic, balsamic,
empyrumatic and repulsive categories of odour.
The odors generated by above trace ingredients are highly potent and
are considered unpleasant or repulsive in their concentrated form.
When such unpleasant odours are combined in traces with many
pleasant floral, fresh, fruity or other similar Living Tissue odours, a
true flower accord or a classic fragrance is created. This is known as
Theory of contrast in perfumery creation.
There are so many natural or nature identical ingredients, which owing
to their very characteristics or intense odours, even when used in traces
can change the complete character of a fragrance.
Examples are: Civet, Castorium, Buchu leaf, Galbanum, etc.
Generally this change of characters is achieved by adding contrast to
the blend.
So, let us revise our definition of modern technique of perfumery.
Modern technique of perfumery is the art and science of using
naturals (which are cost effective) with synthetics and utilising
many trace and minor ingredients of low threshold values found in
By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

natural oils / absolutes to achieve the desired natural uniqueness &

strength in a fragrance, with lasting impression.
Referring to the analysis of odours written by the author, you will
observe that a fragrance is incomplete unless you add some sensual,
empyrumatic, repulsive, balsamic or earthy character as represented by
the bottom segment of the wheel.
According to Charles(1961) sharp contrast have their place in fine
as well as functional perfumery similar to other arts, like , music or
paintings. An excess of polish or rounding off can, at worst, result
in a subdued characterless composition.

LIVING TISSUE ODOURS

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

DYING TISSUE ODOURS

Next, let us discuss, how one can achieve the cost effectiveness by using
NATURALS or their potent isolates. Many natural essential oils are still
best value for money, only perfumer has to learn the art of using these in
his/her compositions:Some of these oils are:Ajowan oil
Basil oil
Black pepper oil
Calamus oil
Cederwood oil(Indian)
Cinamon leaf oil
Citronella oil
Clove leaf oil
Corrinder oil
Dill seed oil
Geranium oil
Ginger oil
Guaicwood oil
Jamrosa oil/Palmrosa oil
Jatamansi oil

Kapoor katchri oil

Lavandin oil
Lemon oil
Lemongrass oil
M.Citrata oil
Nagarmotha oil
Nutmeg oil
Orange oil
Patchouli oil
Peppermint oil
Petitgrain oil
Spearmint oil
Turmeric leaf oil

However, their judicious use in functional fragrances is not only an art but a
challenge as well.
A perfumer cannot take the liberty of using exotic oils in low-cost
fragrances. Then, how to obtain that natural, unique and divine, feeling in a
functional fragrance!
Let me explain this by siting few examplesOur first presentation is a creation of one of the natural oils for functional
perfumery ie Lemon peel oil. Our target is natural oil from ITALY OR
ARGENTINA and our limitation is COST.

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

Lemon Oil 330

INGREDIENTS

Area
%
Aldehyde C 11
0.02
Galbanum Oil Eco
(SIVA) 0.02
Corinder Oil Eco
(SIVA) 0.02
Aldehyde C- 12
0.03
Coumrin
0.03
DHM
0.05
Basil Oil (camphor type)
0.07
GHB 66
(SIVA) 0.08
Hedione
0.13
C-8 Alcohol
0.10
C-10 Alcohol
0.10
Allyl caproate
0.10
Jasmin oxide
0.10
Nerolidol
0.10
Methyl myral
(TADI) 0.10
Citrathal
(SIVA) 0.40

INGREDIENTS

Area
%
Lime oxide
0.20
Aldehyde C-8
0.24
Aldehyde C-9
0.25
Linalool
0.30
Bisabolene
(Siva) 0.30
Tee tree Oil
0.30
Geranyl acetate
0.40
Neryl Acetate
0.50
Haldi leaf Oil
0.50
Terpineol
1.00
Gamma terpinene
2.00
Alpha + beta pinene cut (Mentha) 3.00
Citral
3.65
Alpha pinene
5.00
Orange terpenes
80.60

Our next presentation is creation of a oriental fragrance, FIRDAUS 2007 :

FIRDAUS 2007
INGREDIENTS
Amroxon
Cin.Alcohol
Heliotropin
Iso eugenol
Floralcetal
M. anthranilate

%
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.60
0.20
0.20

INGREDIENTS
Methyl ionone (gamma)
Fine Timber
Vetiver Oil 77
(SIVA)
Geranium Oil 77
(SIVA)
Linalool
Citronellol

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

%
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.50
1.50

Rhuboxide
Vetac
C- 18 aldehyde
Javanol 10%
Hedione
Evernyl
GHB 66
Herbalmate
Herbox
Jamrosa Oil
Vet Acetate Art
Citrathal
Lemon grass Oil
C-12 MNA
Vetcon
DHM acetate
Fasli Gulab 1508
Glyco greenal
Jasmin absolute art 88
Coumarin

(TADI) 0.20
0.20
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30
(SIVA) 0.30
0.40
0.50
0.50
(SIVA) 0.50
0.50
0.30
0.60
(TADI) 0.70
0.80
(SIVA) 1.00
1.00
(SIVA) 1.00
1.00

Jasmin Oxide
1.80
Benzyl acetate
2.00
Iso E super
2.00
Herbolite M 110
(SIVA) 2.00
Tonalid
2.00
Benzyl salicylate
3.00
Hydroxy citronellal
3.00
Eth. Brasslate
3.00
Styryl acetate
4.00
Galaxolide 50
4.00
Bacdanol
4.00
Terpinyl Acetate
4.00
Lilial
5.00
Lemon Oil 330
(SIVA) 5.00
Sandela
6.00
Patchouli select 11
7.00
Hex. Cin.Aldehyde
10.00
Lin. acetate
10.00
DPG
3.00

TOTAL

THANK YOU

By Prof. S.C Varshney (Chairman/R&D Head-SOM VARSHNEY GROUP)

100.00