Blue Lilies

NaturalFLOWERSfloral · fruity · sweet

HeartPyramid

—Strength

—Tenacity

1Origins

Specimen

Nymphaea caerulea Savigny (Nymphaeaceae)

Definition

Blue lilies is a perfumery note drawn from Nymphaea caerulea, a water lily of the family Nymphaeaceae. Its extracts smell floral, fruity and sweet.

FLORAL FRUITY SWEET POWDERY FIG-LIKE LEATHERY

Blue lotus, Egyptian lotus, water lily

Type: Ingredient
Olfactive family: Florals
Subfamily: Powdery florals
Cluster: Classic florals
Source: Fresh flowers of Nymphaea caerulea, extracted with hexane
Chemical class: Mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic alcohols, fatty acids, phenyl derivatives, diterpenoids, phytosterols and stigmastanes

Instruments

Pyramid

TTop

HHeart

BBase

Producing countries

China (Hainan and Guangdong)

Scent

The aroma of the extracts is floral, fruity, sweet, fig-like, leathery and slightly herbaceous. A blue lotus absolute is described as a sweet, fruity and powdery floral with facets of stone fruit and lilacs. Nymphaea caerulea is described as incorporating mild, honeyed undertones. The same absolute is also described as watery but extremely complex, an aquatic floral.

In PREMIEREPEAU

DISCOVERY SET7 × 2 ml →EXTRAIT DE PARFUMThe seven extraits →

The Full Story

Botany

Nymphaea caerulea Savigny belongs to the family Nymphaeaceae and is known as blue lotus, water lily and Egyptian lotus. It is an aquatic perennial plant that grows worldwide along rivers and lakes, from sea level to 2700 m. Its floating leaves are round or oval and flat, up to 40 cm in diameter, and arise from a perennial spongy rhizome submerged in the mud. The leaves stay afloat because their top surface is covered with a smooth, waxy cuticle and the margins are slightly rolled up. In the wild it is found throughout most of the eastern half of Africa and in parts of southern Arabia. The name Nymphaea caerulea is a recognized synonym of Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea. The water lily family contains five genera with about 70 known species.

Composition of the extracts

The volatile fraction makes up 38.7 to 65.1% of the total extract. The three main constituents of the absolute are 6,9-heptadecadiene (11.05 ± 1.53%), benzyl alcohol (10.46 ± 1.42%) and tetradecanol (5.32 ± 0.74%). In the concrete the three main constituents are 6,9-heptadecadiene (11.95 ± 1.65%), n-tricosane (8.03 ± 0.18%) and benzyl alcohol (7.58 ± 0.85%). The vapor phase of a live N. caerulea flower contained mainly 6,9-heptadecadiene (40.1%), pentadecane (15.5%), 8-heptadecene (15.3%) and benzyl acetate (10.4%). A comparison of stamens, pistils and petals reported that the stamens produce the majority of the volatiles.

Alkaloids and safety

The plant contains the psychoactive alkaloids nuciferine and apomorphine. In the authentic extracts, apomorphine and nuciferine were virtually absent. Blue lotus concretes and absolutes were free of apomorphine and held negligible traces of nuciferine (10-72 ppb). For authentic concrete or absolute diluted as a fragrance ingredient, the available information does not indicate major safety concerns for topical application.

Commercial products

Eleven commercial blue lotus products bought online varied greatly in aroma, and none resembled the original aroma. All of the tested samples contained synthetic fragrance components.

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History

Savigny first described Nymphaea caerulea in 1798. Bernard Verdcourt later classified it as a variety of Nymphaea nouchali in 1989. The plant and flower are very frequently depicted in ancient Egyptian art, including carvings and paintings on the walls of the temple of Karnak. A number of pharaohs' mummies were covered with the petals of the flower. There are indications it was grown in special farms over 4,000 years ago to produce enough flowers for votive offerings. It was regarded as a symbol of the sun, since the flowers are closed at night and open again in the morning. Scholars have long hypothesized that the lilies, when soaked in wine, release psychedelic properties used at rituals dating back some 3,000 years. Traces of Peganum harmala and Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea were identified in an Egyptian ritual Bes-vase of the 2nd century BCE. The authors of that study concluded that Peganum harmala and Nymphaea caerulea were deliberately used as sources of psychoactive substances for ritual purposes. The authentic Egyptian blue lotus has become incredibly rare since the construction of the Aswan dam on the southern Nile altered its native environment.

Did You Know?

Petals of the blue water lily were found in King Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. At Heliopolis, the origin of the world was taught to have been when the sun god Ra emerged from a lotus flower growing in primordial waters. The flower played a role in the Hathoric Festival of Drunkenness, in which ancient people got drunk, passed out and reportedly saw the face of Hathor, goddess of love, beauty and fertility, when they awoke.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method

Authentic blue lotus extracts were made in industrial settings, with average yields of 0.18% for the concrete and 0.09% for the absolute. Fresh flowers are shredded and extracted twice with hexane (1:2, w/v) in an enamel tank with continuous stirring for 12 h. The hexane is drained and filtered, and the extracts are left to settle for 4 h and filtered again. The solvent is recovered and the extract concentrated under atmospheric pressure until all of the hexane has evaporated. The concentrated extract is called concrete. To prepare the absolute, the concrete is dewaxed with 95% ethanol (1:5, w/v), stirred carefully and placed in a freezer for more than 12 h. The extract is filtered, and the filtrate is concentrated under low pressure until all of the solvent has evaporated.

Formula: Complex natural mixture (key constituents: 6,9-heptadecadiene; benzyl alcohol; tetradecanol)
Botanical: Nymphaea caerulea Savigny (Nymphaeaceae)
Synonyms: Blue lotus, Egyptian lotus, water lily

IFRA status

See note

No IFRA Standard for the material itself (51st Amendment)

In Perfumery

Water lily notes are placed as a middle note, bridging bright citrus openings with deeper floral, musky or woody bases. The note pairs well with bergamot, pear and neroli, and in floral compositions it enhances peony, freesia and jasmine without adding density. A blue lotus absolute from Nymphaea caerulea is also described as a middle note.

Role in the formula

01heart note

02floral character

Available as

concrete absolute