Muhuhu Oil

#### Muhuhu Oil. In the group of sandalwood-amyris-cedarwood type of essential oils, we find numerous wood oils which are either produced on an experimental scale only, or produced for local consumption in a limited area. A few of these oils have reached the "outside" world of perfumery, accidentally, or justified by their particular and outstanding effects. From an East African Compositae, **Brachyleana**** ****Hutchinsil**, comes an oil which is steam distilled from the wood of this tree. The tree is known locally in Kenya and Uganda as **Muhugwe **tree, and the oil is commercially known as **Muhuhu Oil**. The oil has been known for about 30 years outside East Africa. **Muhuhu**** ****Oil**** **is a viscous, amber-colored or brownish-yellow liquid of a soft, balsamic-woody, somewhat sweet and faintly floral odor, reminiscent of vetiver, sandalwood and tail-fractions of Atlas cedarwood oil. Fresh oils show a strong topnote of styrene-cadinene type and a dry, somewhat harsh caryophyllene-like bodynote. Unfortunately, the odor characteristics of this oil vary considerably since distillation of the oil demands extensive experience in order to achieve a uniform product. A significant amount of the oil consists of partly water-soluble sesquiterpene alcohols or related materials, and the presence and percentage of sesquiterpenes, etc. is largely dependent upon the length of distillation, steam pressure, etc. The wood, which is an excellent but very hard furniture lumber, has been distilled experimentally in modern stills in Europe. Taking all this into consideration, **Muhuhu Oil **will have some difficulty in attaining any great importance as a perfumery material, but the delicate fragrance, the low cost, and the excellent fixative effect of better grades of the oil (or of the high-boiling fractions thereof) may still attract the interest of many perfumers who work with "precious wood"-notes, Oriental bases, tenacious powdery and aldehydic fragrances, vetiver bases, sandalwood variations, etc. **Muhuhu Oil **is produced in very limited quantities and is not available at all times. It is very likely that it would be available if the producers were allowed to charge a reasonable price for the troublesome work of producing this oil. See also **Osyris**** ****Tenuifolia**.