Green-sappy with a gentle woody sweetness. The leaves add a faintly milky-herbaceous quality. Less dark than most hardwoods, less sharp than green-leaf notes. A subtle fruity undertone from association with the berries. The overall impression is light, pale-wooded, and surprisingly gentle.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
Green-sappy freshness, pale wood
After a few hours
After a few hours
Gentle woody sweetness, faint milky leaf
After a few days
After a few days
Soft light-woody residue
Terroir & Maturity
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
Mulberry (Morus alba, white mulberry) is a deciduous tree native to China, historically cultivated as food for silkworms. The tree's olfactory contribution comes not from its sweet-tart berries but from its wood, bark, and leaves.
The wood is pale, fine-grained, and flexible with a faintly sweet, green-sappy scent. The leaves, when crushed, release a green-herbaceous aroma with a subtle milky quality (fitting, given their role as silkworm food). The bark has a more woody-bitter character.
In perfumery, mulberry plant is a natural note providing green-woody character with a gentle sweetness. It sits in an unusual position: woody but not dark, green but not sharp, with a silk-road cultural connects that adds narrative depth. The note functions in green-woody, silk-themed, and East Asian-inspired compositions.
This note in Première Peau. Nuit Elastique · Albâtre Sépia. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
Silkworms (Bombyx mori) eat exclusively mulberry leaves. A single silkworm consumes about 40 grams of leaves during its larval stage. China's 5,000-year silk industry was entirely dependent on white mulberry cultivation. The secret of silk production was a state secret punishable by death to reveal.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Wood and bark can be distilled or extracted but this is uncommon in commercial perfumery. The olfactory representation typically uses light-green woody materials to approximate the character.
Complex mixture: linalool (C₁₀H₁₈O), benzaldehyde (C₇H₆O), various terpenoids
CAS Number
90064-11-2
Botanical Name
Morus alba
IFRA Status
No known restrictions
Synonyms
MORUS · MULBERRY TREE
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
Pale yellow to dark amber liquid
In Perfumery
Mulberry plant is a natural modifier in green-woody, silk-themed, and East Asian compositions. It provides light, pale-wooded character with a green-sappy gentleness. The silk-road cultural association gives it narrative value. Functions alongside other light woods and green materials in compositions seeking delicacy rather than darkness.
