Orris distillation

FIGURE 4.19 Orris distillation, Florentine flask at nearly 98°C. 

Orris. Orris is produced from rhi2omes of Ins pallida and Ins germanica. The plants are found and cultivated mosdy ia Italy, but also ia Morocco and China. It is used ia perfumery as an absolute, a steam-distilled essential oil, and a concrete. The last material, which is a low melting soHd (due to a high content of myristic acid) and therefore erroneously called a concrete, is by far the most used. Orris has a violet-like odor useful ia fine perfumes, luxury soaps, and fragrances for powders and other cosmetic products. Its most important odor contributors are the irones, of which the most important isomer... 

Diacetyl, CHg. CO. CO. CHg, is a diketone found in the distillation waters of santal, caraway, orris, savin, pine, and other essential oils. It has the following characters —... 

Orris root oil is obtained by steam distillation of the rhizomes of the sweet iris. Iris pallida Lam. (Iridaceae) cultivated in the Italian province of Tuscany or Iris germanica L. cultivated in Morocco. Prior to distillation the rhizomes are stored for several years and are then ground. The steam distillate is a light yellow to brown-yellow solid mass with a violet-like odor. The solid liquefies to a yellow to yellow-brown liquid at 38-50 °C. 

Because of its high content of myristic and other fatty acids, the steam distillate is a waxy mass that resembles a concrete and is sold under this name or as Beurre d lris (Orris butter). In addition, a neutral product, obtained after removal of the acids with alkali, is marketed under the name orris oil absolute or as orris oil 10-fold. 

Vitivert, or Kus-hus.—The fleshy part of a specter of dry grass from India, It has an aromatic odor, and is used in the same manner as orris root. The tincture or extract of vitivert is made by digesting one pound of the dried root in a quart of alcohol for two weeks, and filtering. This tincture was formerly much used In bouquet combinations, and was an important ingredient in the once celebrated preparations of that kind called mousselaine des Indes, bouquet du rot, et cetera. By distillation, it yields about one per cent, of volatile oil called otto of vitivert, and resembling, according to Piesse, the otto of santal. 

Costus Root Oil occurs as a light yellow to brown, viscous liquid with a peculiar, persistent odor reminiscent of violet, orris, and vetivert. It is the volatile oil obtained by steam distillation from the dried, triturated roots of the herbaceous perennial plant Saussurea lappa Clarke (Fam. Compositae) or by a solvent extraction procedure followed by vacuum distillation of the resinoid extract. It is soluble in most fixed... 

Concrete orris oil, a waxy substance obtained by steam distillation of Morentine orris root. 

G.i Iris Absolut/Ol E absolue/essence d iris The rhizomes (subterranean stems) of the - orris flower are the starting material for the most expensive - fragrance and - flavor raw material. After harvesting, the rhizomes have to be washed, decorticated and stored for three years fresh material is practically odorless. The material is then pulverized and steam-distilled with an extremely low yield (<0.1%). The resulting - essential oil solidifies in the receiver to a wax-like, cream-colored mass, which explains why this product is frequently termed orris concrete or orris butter. This phenomenon is due to the high content (85-90%) of - myristic acid, which is removed by alkaline washing of the orris oil in ether solution to yield orris absolute. 

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