Hiba Oil

#### Thujopsis Dolobrata Oil. "**Hiba**** ****oil**": Among numerous varieties of thuja all over the world is the Japanese **Thuja Dolobrata **(or **Thujopsis**** ****Dolobrata**). This tree grows also in certain parts of Asia and in the southern parts of the U.S.S.R. In Japan, the leaves and the wood are used for the distillation of two oils: - **Hiba**** ****Leaf**** ****Oil**, steam distilled from the leaves of the above tree, is of little or no interest. It is not regularly available on the perfumery market. - **Hiba Wood Oil**, steam distilled from the chips of the wood, is quite important. Recently, the annual production has surpassed 20 metric tons in Japan (1959). The wood is a popular construction wood, due to the excellent resistance of this wood to fungi and bacteriae. The fungus-growth inhibitor in the wood is a ketonic substance. In this respect, the wood resembles the wood of **Chamaecyparis Obtusa **(see this monograph). **Hiba Wood Oil **is a yellowish to brownish- amber colored, somewhat viscous liquid of dry, woody odor with a peculiar sharp or pungent undertone. There are various types of the oil available (with or without the above ketonic fungistat-bacteriostat), and the odor of these types varies slightly. The ketone-free oil-fraction is used in Japan as a cedarwood oil in soap perfumes, detergent perfumes and industrial perfumes. So far, the oil has found no market outside of its country of origin, but the oil is available from Japanese supply houses in limited quantities. The author has no personal experience with the use of Hiba Wood Oil or Hiba Leaf Oil in perfumery. It is conceivable that these oils will remain local materials.