Oil of guaiac is a fragrance ingredient used in soap and perfumery. Despite its name it does not come from the Guaiacum tree, but from the palo santo tree (Bulnesia sarmientoi).
Oil of guaiac is produced through steam distillation of a mixture of wood and sawdust from palo santo. It is sometimes incorrectly called guaiac wood concrete. It is a yellow to greenish yellow semi-solid mass which melts around 40–50 °C. Once melted, it can be cooled back to room temperature yet remain liquid for a long time. Oil of guaiac has a soft roselike odour, similar to the odour of hybrid tea roses or violets. Because of this similarity, it has sometimes been used as an adulterant for rose oil.
Oil of guaiac is primarily composed of 42–72% guaiol, bulnesol, δ-bulnesene, β-bulnesene, α-guaiene, guaioxide and β-patchoulene. It is considered non-irritating, non-sensitizing, and non-phototoxic to human skin.
Oil of guaiac was also a pre-Renaissance remedy to syphilis.
See also
References
- "Guaiac Wood perfume ingredient, Guaiac Wood fragrance and essential oils Bulnesia sarmienti". Fragrantica.com. 1921-04-04. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
- Guenther, Ernest (1992). The Essential Oils: Individual Essential Oils of the Plant Families. Krieger Publishing Company. pp. 28, 197–9. ISBN 9780894647734. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
Further reading
- D.L.J. Opdyke, 1974, Food Cosmet. Toxicol., 12 (Suppl.), 905
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