One or more of the items in your cart is a deferred, subscription, or recurring purchase. By continuing, I agree to the cancellation policy and authorize you to charge my payment method at the prices, frequency and dates listed on this page until my order is fulfilled or I cancel, if permitted.
FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND NUTS / fruity · rich · sweet
Plum
Category
FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND NUTS
Subcategory
fruity · rich · sweet
Origin
Volatility
Heart Note
Botanical
Prunus domestica
Appearance
Dark purple to reddish-brown viscous liquid
Odor Strength
Medium
Producing Countries
Chile, China, Iran, Romania, Serbia
Pyramid
Heart
Dark, jammy, wine-rich. Plum in perfumery smells like fruit at its last moment of ripeness — overripe sweetness, dried-skin tartness, and the shadow of fermentation just beginning.
Dark, jammy sweetness with a wine-like depth. Damascenone provides the honeyed, dried-fruit, almost raisinated quality. Benzaldehyde adds a bitter-almond undercurrent — the Prunus family signature. The overall impression is of fruit at its ripest verge, sweet but with a tannic shadow.
Compared to peach (lactonic, velvety, light), plum is denser, darker, more alcoholic-fruity. Compared to cherry (sharper benzaldehyde dominance), plum is rounder and more complex. Compared to fig (green-lactonic), plum is entirely in the warm-dark register. It reads as evening to peach's afternoon.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
After a few hours
After a few hours
After a few days
After a few days
The Full Story
Plum is one of the darker fruit notes in the perfumer's palette — richer, more complex, and more wine-like than peach, apple, or pear. Like all fruit notes, it has no meaningful natural extraction and is reconstructed synthetically. But unlike the ester-driven brightness of apple or the lactonic creaminess of peach, plum relies on a different class of molecules: damascones and damascenone.
Beta-damascenone (CAS 23726-93-4) is the key odorant. Despite being present at trace levels in actual plums, it has an extremely low olfactory threshold and shapes more than half of plum's recognizable aroma. Its scent is complex: honeyed, tea-like, dried-fruit, with a wine-like richness that connects plum to rose (where damascenone also plays a critical role). Alpha-damascone and beta-damascone (the ketone relatives) contribute warm, fruity, slightly woody facets.
Benzaldehyde provides the cherry-almond undertone characteristic of all Prunus species — plum, cherry, almond, and apricot all share this Rosaceae-family marker, released by enzymatic hydrolysis of cyanogenic glycosides like amygdalin. Fruity butyrate esters (ethyl butyrate, hexyl butyrate) add juiciness, while gamma-decalactone contributes a subtle lactonic-peach quality.
In perfumery, plum appears in oriental, fruity-chypre, and gourmand compositions. Its dark, wine-like quality connects it to dried-fruit accords (raisin, fig, date) and to amber-oriental bases. It reads as mature, autumnal, and slightly decadent — not a youthful, fresh-fruit note.
Did You Know?
Did you know?
Beta-damascenone was first identified in Bulgarian rose oil in the 1960s, and its name derives from Damascus — the Syrian city historically associated with damask roses. The same molecule that defines plum's character is also responsible for much of rose's honeyed, fruity depth. This shared chemistry explains why plum and rose pair so naturally in perfumery compositions.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: No natural plum extraction is used in commercial perfumery. Plum oil cannot be efficiently extracted from the fruit, and the key aroma compounds are present at trace levels. Plum notes are reconstructed synthetically using damascenone (trace-impact molecule, extremely potent), alpha- and beta-damascone (fruity-woody ketones), benzaldehyde (cherry-almond), and supporting esters (ethyl butyrate, ethyl-2-methylbutyrate). Gamma-decalactone may be added for peach-adjacent lactonic softness. These molecules are produced industrially from various synthetic pathways.
Molecular Formula
Key aroma compound: benzaldehyde C₇H₆O
CAS Number
84929-40-0
Botanical Name
Prunus domestica
IFRA Status
No known restrictions
Synonyms
Prunus domestica, damson, greengage
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
Dark purple to reddish-brown viscous liquid
Flash Point
> 200.00 °F. TCC ( > 93.33 °C. )
In Perfumery
Plum functions as a heart note in oriental, chypre, fruity-dark, and gourmand compositions. Beta-damascenone provides the signature honeyed-wine-dried-fruit character with notable olfactory impact at very low concentrations. The note bridges fruit accords to amber-oriental bases, contributing a rich, slightly boozy warmth. Plum accords work naturally with rose (shared damascenone chemistry), oud, saffron, dark woods, and spices like cinnamon and clove. In leather accords, plum adds a fruity-sweet contrast that rounds the animalic edges. Plum's autumnal, decadent character makes it a natural companion for the warm oriental aesthetic of Insuline Safrine (/products/insuline-safrine-saffron-perfume).
