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Khella

Q: Is Khella natural or synthetic?

. Extraction: Steam distillation of Ammi visnaga fruits (seeds). Yield approximately 0.5-1%. Produced in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. Also extracted for pharmaceutical khellin production..

GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES / green · fresh · sweet

Khella

Category	GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES
Subcategory	green · fresh · sweet
Origin
Volatility	Heart Note
Botanical	Ammi visnaga
Appearance	Pale yellow to amber liquid
Odor Strength	Medium
Producing Countries	Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia
Pyramid	Heart

Green, herbal, faintly bitter-anise. Khella (Ammi visnaga) smells like a Middle Eastern herb garden — clean, slightly medicinal, with a celery-anise quality.

Scent
Terroir & Origins
The Full Story
Fun Fact
Extraction & Chemistry
In Perfumery

Scent

Green, herbal, faintly anisic-bitter, with a celery-like vegetal quality. Clean, slightly medicinal. Like crushing a stem of Ammi visnaga between your fingers — green, herbaceous, faintly sweet-anise, with a clean, apothecary-like precision.

Evolution over time

Immediately

Green herbal burst, faintly anisic, clean

After a few hours

Softer, less green, warm herbal

After a few days

Faint herbal residue

Terroir & Transformation

Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.

The Full Story

Khella (Ammi visnaga) is a Mediterranean herb in the carrot family (Apiaceae) whose fruits have been used in traditional medicine for over 3,000 years, particularly in Egypt. The plant contains khellin and visnagin — compounds that formed the basis for the development of modern asthma medication (cromoglicic acid).

The essential oil has a green, herbal, faintly anisic-bitter character dominated by linalool, 2-methylbutyrate esters, and various coumarins. The scent is clean, slightly medicinal, with a celery-like vegetal quality.

Ammi visnaga is native to the Mediterranean basin, North Africa, and western Asia. It has been found in Egyptian tombs dating to the 12th Dynasty (c. 1990-1780 BCE).

In perfumery, khella provides an herbal, green-medicinal note with North African/Middle Eastern specificity.

This note in Première Peau. Simili Mirage · Gravitas Capitale. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.

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Related: Alpha Pinene · Angelica · Angelica Root · Angelica Root Oil · Artemisia · Barrenwort · Beachheather · Behini Tree

Did You Know?

Did you know?

Khellin from Ammi visnaga was used by Egyptian physicians to treat kidney stones for millennia. In the 1960s, Roger Altounyan (himself an asthma sufferer) synthesized cromoglicic acid from khellin, creating one of the first preventive asthma medications.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method: Steam distillation of Ammi visnaga fruits (seeds). Yield approximately 0.5-1%. Produced in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. Also extracted for pharmaceutical khellin production.

↑ See Terroir & Origins for origin-specific methods.

Molecular Formula	Khellin C₁₄H₁₂O₅ (characteristic compound) · Visnagin C₁₃H₁₀O₄
CAS Number	84695-96-5
Botanical Name	Ammi visnaga
IFRA Status	No known restrictions
Synonyms	Visnaga, Toothpick Plant
Physical Properties
Odor Strength	Medium
Appearance	Pale yellow to amber liquid

In Perfumery

Khella (Ammi visnaga) provides a green, herbal-medicinal top note. Linalool and 2-methylbutyrate esters dominant. Functions in herbal, Mediterranean, and apothecary-themed compositions. Not common in Western perfumery — more common in traditional Middle Eastern and North African fragrance traditions.