Maté Absolute

#### Maté. Known to the natives for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, and to the greater part of the present population of South America, **Maté**** **is an everyday tonic. It is prepared from the leaves of **Ilex**** ****Paraguayensis**** **and other **Ilex**** **species. These trees grow wild and cultivated in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and other Latin-American countries. The cultivated trees are usually pruned to bush-size to facilitate picking of the leaves. The forests where the trees grow are known as "yerbales", and the leaves are called "yerba maté". The leaves are dried, usually over a smoldering fire of certain woods. The smoke from the fire enhances the dry-smoky flavor which derives from phenolic and tannic materials in the leaves. The dry leaves are either cut or ground to a coarse powder which are the commercial forms of **Maté**. The pot from which the infusion is usually taken (through a special straw) is called **Maté **(the original, local name), hence the name of the leaves. Only recently, the perfumers became interested in maté. Tinctures, then extracts, resinoids or absolutes were produced although such preparations are not regularly offered commercially. An essential oil has been produced, but the yield is very small and the odor of the oil is less interesting than that of the extracted products. **Maté**** ****Absolute**** **is prepared by extraction of the dry leaves with petroleum ether. The resulting concrète is subsequently extracted with alcohol. A completely solvent-free **Maté**** ****Absolute**** **is a semi-solid, sticky, very dark green mass. It is customary to leave sufficient alcohol or other (occasionally nonvolatile) solvent in the extract as to make it pourable at room temperature. Other producers or consumers will make a strong tincture of maté leaves (20% of the weight of the alcohol). **Maté Absolute **has a very peculiar, rich-herbaceous, dry-leafy, woody-foliage like and somewhat phenolic or smoky, medicinal odor, resemblin that of the leaves. A decolorized extract of maté is commercially available, but only part of the color is actually removed. **Anhydrol**** ****Maté**** **and **Resinoine**** ****Incolore**** ****Maté**** **are distilled extracts of maté. These products are pale of color and yet present the most characteristic notes of the odor of maté extracts. Maté extracts are used in perfumery to introduce a pronounced greenness in floral bouquets. The green notes of maté are free from the sharpness which usually accompanies the "green" odor materials (beta-gamma-hexenol, nonadienal, amyl heptin carbonate, methyl phenyl carbinyl acetate, etc.). Maté absolute or tincture blends well with orange flower bases, jasmin, oakmoss, coumarin and its derivatives, lavender absolute, narcissus, arnica absolute, tea leaf extracts, de-thujonized wormwood oil, chamomile, manevoro oil, cananga oil, castoreum products, spice oils, etc.—quite a varied field of application. In the reproduction of natural fragrances or substitutes of natural perfume materials, maté absolute can often add the missing notes to the match (duplication). In fougères, new mown hay, hay or meadowsweet fragrances, it lends a rich body and herbal undertone of unique tenacity. Since the leaves are so abundant and low in price, there is no problem of availability of **Maté**** **perfume products. It may, however, still be necessary for the consumer to prepare them from the botanical material since the finished extracts are rarely offered. A west-American plant, **Eriodictylon Californicum*****, ***also called **Mountain Balm, **is sometimes sold under the name of **Yerba**** ****Santa**. It has no relationship to the Latin American **Yerba**** ****Maté**. The Californian plant has been used for some time in the pharmaceutical industry since an extract from its leaves has the ability of masking effectively the bitter taste of quinine in pharmaceutical preparations, etc.