Ambrettolide (prirodni mošus)

What it is

Ambrette is one of the few ingredients to contain a natural musk compound, ambrettolide. Ambrettolide's formula is C₁₆H₂₈O₂ and its molecular weight is 252.39.

The plant

Abelmoschus moschatus is an aromatic and medicinal plant of the family Malvaceae, native to Asia and Australia. It is an evergreen shrub that is also known as Muskdana. It has been growing throughout India and is cultivated in China, the West Indies and Indonesia. The yellow flowers with purple centres last only a day and soon give way to the fruit. The fruits are large, fuzzy capsules, green at first and brown when ripe, and they contain the ambrette seeds. The brown, ripe seed pods are harvested between July and November, depending on the region. The seeds are carefully separated from the pods and dried in the sun for about two days to reduce humidity.

Composition of the seed oil

Ambrette seed oil analysed by GC-MS contained 35 compounds, the major ones being farnesol acetate (51.45%) and ambrettolide (12.96%). An earlier report gives a seed oil with 59.1% 2E,6E-farnesyl acetate, 7.8% hexadec-7-en-16-olide and 5.6% decyl acetate.

Chemistry

The (7Z) form has the IUPAC name (7Z)-1-oxacycloheptadec-7-en-2-one. A related isomer, with the double bond at position 8, is (8Z)-1-oxacycloheptadec-8-en-2-one.

Place among musks

Most musk fragrance used in perfumery today is synthetic. Macrocyclic musks extracted from plants are large-ringed lactones, whereas all animal-derived macrocyclic musks are ketones.

Ambrette seed absolute

Ambrette seed absolute has earthy facets, fleeting nutty notes with silky fruity undertones and liquor nuances. As it dries, it evolves into a powdery floral note of orris.

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Related: Aldron · Ambretone · Ambrette Musk Mallow · Ambrinol · Coral Reef · Cyclopentadecanolide · Exaltolide · Galaxolide