Oakmoss

#### Oakmoss (summary). The so-called **Oakmoss**** **belongs to one of the lowest ranking botanical specimens among all the perfumery raw materials. The various extracts of oakmoss belong to some of the finest perfumery materials at our disposal, and there are few high- class French fashion-perfumes which do not have at least a touch of an oakmoss product in their formulae. The trade distinguishes between various types of oakmoss, and the perfume material suppliers offer an endless line of different extracts of these botanical specimens. It should be pointed out at this place in our oakmoss discussion that very, very few commercially available oakmoss extracts are "true and genuine" in the same terms as those applied to the essential oils: "— — derived by a physical process from odorous plant material of a single botanical form and species, with which it agrees in name and odor". The author would like to repeat that he fully agrees with the viewpoints of those suppliers who place odor quality and product performance above all other considerations in the processing of natural raw materials for perfumes and flavors. If it is in any way possible to improve the odor quality of a processed natural raw material by the use of several botanical specimens instead of one, or by the addition of small amounts of other natural or synthetic perfume materials, then we cannot speak of "adulteration" or "cutting" or "falsification"— not even of "sophistication" since the product is really not *less *than what it pretends to be. On the other hand, there is hardly any other perfume material that is so frequently "doctored up", "compounded", "bouquetted", etc., etc. as are the oakmoss extracts. A certain group of consumers or perfumers in the consuming part of the industry may be of the opinion that if an oakmoss product (or any other perfume raw material) *must *be compounded, bouquetted or the like in order to yield maximum performance, the perfumer might as well do this bouquetting himself and not pay the supplier to do it for him. The question is not as simple as that. The perfumer may have to spend years of daily experiments in order to arrive at anything like an improvement over the original odor and performance of his "pure and natural" oakmoss extract. The supply industry has this experience—generations of it—and it may be less expensive to buy this experience for a slight overprice per kilo of oakmoss product. Unfortunately, there are countless poor or worthless oakmoss products in the trade, and it takes time to evaluate just a fraction of the number of all available oakmoss products. However, for the consumer who may use as much as 500 or 1,000 kilos of oakmoss extract per year, there is definitely an economical advantage in buying the "straight" extract of one botanical material. A few central European manufacturers specialize in such extracts. True **Oakmoss **is the lichen, **Evernia Prunastri**, which grows primarily on oak trees. It is collected all over central and southern Europe, particularly in Yugoslavia and France, and also in Morocco and Algeria. Smaller amounts are collected in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Greece, etc. It is considered the finest raw material for production of perfume extracts ("true" oakmoss extracts). The **Evernia Furfuracea **and **Usnea Barbata, **two related lichens, yield the so-called "**Tree**** ****Moss**" or "**Fir Moss**" (see monograph on "**Tree Moss**"). These lichens grow on spruces and pines in the humid forests of central and southern Europe. The tree- and firmosses produce a much darker extract, the odor of which is much less refined than that of true oakmoss extract. Various lichens from peach, apple, almond, mimosa and many acacia trees are collected in France, Spain, Italy, Corsica, Yugoslavia, etc., and these yield extracts of various quality. A good, light-colored and aromatic moss usually comes from mimosas and acacias. Numerous other lichens and even algae are employed in the manufacture of so-called oakmoss products. (See also monograph on **Seaweed Absolute **about extracts from carragheen and other seaweeds). Extracts are produced from the above botanical materials which can be classified briefly as follows: - **Concrètes**—by extraction with hydrocarbon solvents. - **Absolutes**—by alcohol extraction of concrètes. - **Absolute**** ****Co-Distillates**—by co-distillation of the absolute with a high-boiling, odorless solvent, usually by applying molecular distillation conditions. - **Absolute**** ****Oils—by**** **vacuum distillation of the absolute. - **Resins**—so-called, are generally produced from the washed residues which are insoluble in alcohol during the production of oakmoss absolute (see * 2). The waxy residue is "touched up" by the addition of various natural and synthetic perfume materials and solvents. - **Resinoids**—so-called, are produced by hot alcohol extraction of the botanical material. The residue (= the extract) is usually "touched up" with other perfume materials. The terms **Resin **and **Resinoid **are used erroneously and indiscriminately for various "compounded" extracts of oakmoss (and other mosses) with hot alcohol. The resulting extract is apparently subject to no standardization at all from the suppliers' side. All of the above products (except #3 and 4) are also prepared in a more or less decolorized form. The above groups of materials appear in the market in countless varieties.