Rose Oil Article page 2

The yearly production of rose blossoms is on average 6,000 tons in Turkey, 3,000 tons in Bulgaria and 1,000 tons in Morocco – but in this country 800 tons are used for the production of dried buds, and the production of concrete tends to decrease.
Total production of rose oil is around 2,000 kg a year, and total production of concrete is around 6,000 kg a year. The price of rose products is on an upward trend. Today, rose oil is above $5000 a kg, while rose absolute is around $1500 a kg.

The essential oil and the absolute are used to influence the middle notes of perfumes. The oil can also be appreciated in the top notes and the absolute in the base notes. Both are present in many famous perfumes of the 20th century. The oil brings bright, floral, rosy notes to perfumes, the absolute smooth, warm and powdery notes. Rose oil and rose absolute are also widely used cosmetic ingredients. In aromatherapy, rose oil is renown for many properties, and some say that its inhalation is relaxing and gives a feeling of well being. Rose oil is also used as a flavor, especially for ice-creams and oriental pastries.
Rose water is used in cosmetics as it is said to be hydrating, astringent and refreshing. It is widely used in the Middle-East as a traditional cooking ingredient, and also as a purifying water.

Rose de Mai is a hybrid of Rosa centifolia, which is grafted on another species. It is cultivated since the end of the 19th century in the Provence region of France. Its production declined after WWII and is now down to 150 tons of flowers a year. This rose has a poor yield of oil (more than 7,000 kg of flowers would be needed for 1 kg of oil!) so oil is not produced because its price would be too high – therefore there is no such thing as ‘French rose oil.’ Roses are only used to produce a concrete whose fragrance is very similar to the Rosa damascena concrete. Genuine French rose absolute is above $6000 a kilo, thus only used in top world famous perfumes.
Only Morocco also grows Rosa centifolia, the production of roses being equivalent to France.

Other countries also produce fragrant roses, which may be related to rosa damascena or other species. In the Middle-East, roses are grown in Iran, Saudi-Arabia, and other Arab countries. They are mostly used to produce rose water, and distillation methods are still traditional. The production of rose oil is small and locally consumed.
In India, various roses are cultivated mainly in the Uttar Pradesh, where roses are collected from mid-March until mid-April. Some oil is produced, but it is very different from Turkish or Bulgarian rose oils. India mostly produces ‘attars of rose’ called gulab, where the distillate is passed through sandalwood oil.
Rose oil is thus one of the oldest known oil. Today, its high price makes it a luxury product. If the delicacy of its fragrance was once reserved to perfumers, the development of aromatherapy should now allow everyone to know its refinement which will never be outmatched.