Geranium Oil

#### Geranium Oil. One of the most important and irreplaceable essential oils in perfumery is **Geranium Oil. **It does not range among the first 20 oils in quantity annually produced if we include all types of essential oils (industrial oils, flavor oils, perfume oils). But considering its value, we will find **Geranium Oils **very high on the list of all the perfumery oils, if not at the very top of the list. The annual world production of all types of geranium oils can be estimated at not less than 200 metric tons, and the value at approximately six to ten million U.S. dollars. About half the world production comes from the small island of **La**** ****Réunion**, 500 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Next (in quantity produced) comes the U.S.S.R., Morocco. Algeria (once the world's leading producer), Colombia, El Salvador, East Africa (including the Belgian Congo) while West Africa, Japan, Italy, Spain, France and various other areas each produce less than two metric tons annually. **Geranium Oil**** **is steam distilled from the leaves and branches of **Pelargonium Graveolens**** **and other species of **Pelargonium. **This comparatively small plant is a hybrid from other pelargonium species, all of which originally came from South Africa. The funny part of the geranium story is that practically all perfumery geraniums have taken the same trip: to Europe first, and then back to some overseas region where they have been cultivated for the purpose of producing essential oil. The author knows of only one pelargonium that did not take the trouble of emigrating from South Africa to Europe and back again: the **Kenya Pelargonium**** ****Radula Oil **(see monograph on **Mawah Oil**) has been brought to the east African mountains directly from South Africa, probably as pelargonium graveolens, and then the plant has hybridized in Kenya. All geranium oils are distilled from cultivated plants. The yield is very small, usually from 0.1 to 0.3 percent (of the plant material), averaging less than 0.2%. In most areas, there are two crops per year, but climatic conditions in the most important areas play a decisive role in the annual output of oil. **Geranium Oils **are used very extensively in perfumery. Significant quantities of geranium oil are used in the production of "rhodinol ex geranium" or "terpeneless geranium oil", etc., see **Geranium**** ****Oil,**** ****terpeneless.**** **Very small amounts of geranium oil are still used in certain types of flavors. The individual types of geranium oil will be briefly discussed in the following monographs: ---