Petitgrain Bigarade sur fleurs d'oranger

#### Petitgrain Bigarade "sur fleurs d'oranger". Among the better known "co-distillation" products of flowers and oils is the "essential oil" from steam distillation of petitgrain bigarade oil over orange flowers from the same type of tree (bitter orange tree). This product is almost exclusively a specialty of the Grasse houses, but there is no standard in respect to the ratio between petitgrain oil and the amount of orange flowers used in this distillation. A good oil is produced irregularly in Guinea, formerly French West Africa. The oil should originally be a product from a mixture of leaves, twigs and flowers of the bit orange tree, but since the trimming of the trees occur in a season when flowers are scarce, this is not very practical. An entirely different type of oil is "composed" by simple mixing of a certain amount of petitgrain bigarade oil with a certain (much smaller) amount of neroli oil. The three methods lead to three different products. The latter is of no interest at all to perfumers. The first mentioned method is the most common in use. The second method—distillation of all three natural parts of the bitter orange tree—yields an interesting distillation water. This water is rich in essential oil, a type of "**Orange Leaf-and-Flower Water Absolute**" which can be extracted by means of a hydrocarbon solvent. This absolute is related to the so-called absolute of "eaux de brouts" (see monograph on **Orange Leaf **and **Flower Water**** ****Absolute.** The "mixed" essential oil (petitgrain "sur fleurs d'oranger") is a pale yellow liquid of fresh and sweet-floral odor, reminiscent of orange flowers, of terpeneless petitgrain oil, and having a soft, sweet-woody, tenacious undertone. The orange- flowers seem to display themselves particularly in the topnote which attains life and brilliance far beyond the effect of an ordinary petitgrain bigarade oil. The roughness of this oil is smoothened out or "rounded-off", and the floral freshness is emphasized, "lifted" to a more elegant level of delicate harmony. "**Petitgrain**** ****sur**** ****Fleurs**" is used in perfumery in the more costly duplications of true neroli oil, in fine citrus colognes, in numerous floral bases, and in light aldehydic perfume types, etc. It blends excellently with all citrus oils, lavender oils, sage clary, rosemary, linalool, hydroxycitronellal, aurantiol, amylcinnamic aldehyde, decanal, anthranilates, labdanum products, oakmoss products, olibanum, etc. The oil is rarely adulterated directly, but there are countless types and qualities on the market. The evaluation of this product is certainly left to the discretion of the perfumer and his esthetics. One drawback is that it remains very difficult to obtain the same quality of this product from two different suppliers.