Rose oil |
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Rose Oil Also called Rosewater, Attar of Roses and Otto of Roses. The rose is perhaps the most important of all the plants used in perfumery and has been so since the dawn of history. Rose oil is mentioned in a number of the medical inscriptions of the ancient Egyptians. Homer referred to the rose in about 600 Be and Theophrastus described how it was cultivated in 300 BC. The Creek poetess Sappho called it 'the Queen of the Flowers'. Both Horace and Pliny gave accounts of its cultivation in Roman times. The rose oil of these early days was probably obtained by a simple form of enfleurage, steeping the petals in another oil (Theophrastus noted that salt was added), but the Romans made lavish use of the fragrance by strewing fresh petals, stuffing cushions with them and wearing rose garlands. The early Arabs used roses in many of their perfumes and, by the 9th century, had discovered how to distil the petals with water to produce rosewater on i. commercial scale. Large areas in Iraq, Syria and Iran were then devoted to rose-growing and distilling factories were established: The Caliphs of Baghdad received 30000 bottles of rosewater as an annual tribute from Persia and Arab rosewater was traded as far as China. The popularity of this scent among the Arabs is demonstrated in the statement of one of the Caliphs: 'I am king of sultans and the rose is king of sweet-scented flowers; each of us is therefore worthy of the other'. The essential oil (attar or otto) of roses is obtained by redistilling rosewater. The .oil sometimes occurs in the leaves as well as in the flowers. Production of attar of roses was developed on a substantial scale in Persia in the 16th century and introduced from there into Europe by the Turks. About 10000lbs of roses are needed to distil lib of oil. The major rose-growing areas arc now in Bulgaria and the south of France , with further large-scale production in Turkey, Morocco, Tunis and India.
The species of rose known to the classical world was the red Rosa gallka (Turkish Rose), which originated in Iran and was cultivated in Asia Minor, the Balkans and Europe. The Damask Rose, or Rose of Damascus (R. damascena) is now the principal species cultivated for rose attar not only in Bulgaria but also in Iran and India. This was the rose most used by the early Arab perfume makers, who introduced it to Europe. In the south of France the principal species cultivated around Grasse was for centuries the Cabbage Rose (R. centifolia), also called the Painter's Rose because it features in many works of the Old Masters; fhU is also.cultivated in Turkey and N. Africa. In France it is known as a range of related new varieties has been developed at Grasse for the perfume industry. The fragrance of different species and varieties of rose varies; one expert has enumerated 17 different rose scents, some with a similarity to musk, myrrh, violet or clove. Rose oil appears as a main ingredient in 75% of all modern quality perfumes and in some 10% of all men's fragrances.
Dried rose petals continue to be an important ingredient of many sachets and pot pourri.
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