Orange Flower Concrete

#### Orange Flower Concrète. By extraction of freshly picked flowers of the bitter orange tree, **Citrus Aurantium, ***subspecies** **amara** *(see Neroli Oil) with a hydrocarbon solvent, a concrète is produced after evaporation of the solvent. Petroleum ether is most frequently used since its low boiling point facilitates removal of this solvent without serious loss of odorous components from the flower extract. The concrète is produced in France, Italy, Morocco, occasionally in Cyprus, and, on a small scale in Haiti, Formosa, the Comores, etc. The main producers are France and Italy. **Orange**** ****Flower**** ****Concrète**** **is a dark, brownish or orange-brown paste or soft, unctuous mass. Its odor is extremely strong, floral, deep-sweet, with a peculiar woody-breadcrust-like undertone and great tenacity in floral notes. In high dilution, it is strikingly reminiscent of the odor of fresh orange blossoms. The concrète as such is very rarely used in perfumery, but serves as an intermediary in the production of Orange Flower Absolute (see this monograph), one of the most important flower absolutes next to rose and jasmin. The annual production of orange flower concrète is usually not given, but it can be estimated at several metric tons, judging from the amount of bitter orange flowers harvested and the known amount of neroli oil distilled. The concrète will yield about 44 to *54%** *of alcohol soluble absolute. Orange flower concrète is about the same price as a good French or Tunisian neroli oil. Concrète from flowers of the sweet orange tree has been produced, but the odor of this product is distinctly different from that of bitter orange concrète; in brief, it is decidedly inferior to the latter.