A reconstructed accord — tart, juicy, faintly almond-bitter — inspired by the unripe European plum (Prunus domestica) and the Japanese ume (Prunus mume). No commercial green plum extract exists; the note is built molecule by molecule.
Green plum opens bright and tart — a sharp top of cis-3-hexenol green over a faintly bitter-almond stone-fruit base. Within the first half-hour the green edge softens and a juicy, faintly peachy body emerges from γ-decalactone. The whole reads as a fruit caught between unripe and ripe — the sour still dominant but the sweet starting to surface. On a blotter the accord fades fast; what remains by hour two is a faint stone-fruit memory.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Bright and zesty with immediate tartness
After a few hours
After a few hours
Softening to a rounder, more balanced fruitiness
After a few days
After a few days
Retaining a subtle fresh fruit character
The Full Story
Green plum is a reconstruction — there is no commercial green plum oil, absolute or extract. The accord evokes two distinct botanical referents: the unripe European plum (Prunus domestica, including the Reine Claude / Greengage cultivar that remains green at full ripeness) and the Japanese ume (Prunus mume), botanically closer to apricot than to plum proper.
The reconstruction is built from a small palette of synthetic molecules. Benzaldehyde (CAS 100-52-7) [A] supplies the bitter-almond stone-fruit signature shared by every Prunus species. γ-Decalactone (CAS 706-14-9) [B] adds the peachy-creamy fatty body. cis-3-Hexenol (CAS 928-96-1) gives a sharp fresh-cut-leaf top — the 'green' of green plum. Ethyl 2-methylbutyrate brings ripe fruity esters; β-ionone (CAS 14901-07-6) rounds the whole into a more violet-fruity heart.
In a fragrance
Green plum lives in the top — it lifts citrus and floral openings with a tart-juicy clarity. The accord bridges naturally into stone-fruit hearts (peach, apricot, osmanthus reconstructions) and pairs well with white florals where a sharper fruit-edge is wanted. On a blotter it fades within the first hour; on skin it is gone by the second.
The Japanese ume (Prunus mume) — often miscalled 'plum' in English — is botanically closer to apricot. Pickled as umeboshi or distilled into umeshu, ume has carried the green-plum signature into Japanese culinary culture for over a thousand years; its first written reference appears in the Manyōshū poetry collection of the eighth century.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Fantasy note — no commercial green plum essential oil or absolute exists for perfumery. The note is reconstructed using synthetic esters, lactones, and stone-fruit aldehydes. Closely allied notes (osmanthus absolute, plum reconstructions for tobacco accords) sometimes contribute supporting material.
Green Plum sits in the top, lending a tart-juicy lift to fragrance openings. It pairs with florals (jasmine, peony), green notes (galbanum, fig leaf) and sweeter fruits — and works especially well as a bridge between citrus and floral hearts. Not used in any current Première Peau composition.
