Perfume classification

It is useful to note that the retention times of materials determined by gas chromatography, using a carbowax-type polar column, give a fair indication of their relative volatilities within a compound. However, most perfumers develop their own way of thinking about volatility based on their personal experience and method of work. Too much of a scientific approach can be misleading, and the student perfumer will, in the words of Carles, "soon attain unexpected proficiency by forgetting any technical information he may have, and by establishing his classification for himself."... 

Another approach, adopted by J. S. Jellinek (1992) in his Map of Perfumes, is to classify perfumes on the basis of consumer perception. Consumer perception in many cases differs considerably from that of either the perfumer or fragrance specialist within the industry. Such a classification is valuable in the positioning of new perfumes being launched onto the market. 

Perfumers determine volatility by observing the behavior of perfume materials on the smelling blotter. All of the traditional classifications of volatility (Jellinek 1954 Poucher 1955 Carles 1961), and at least one more recent one (Sturm and Mansfeld 1975), are based on this approach. However, the process of evaporation from a paper strip... 

The odor, volatility, strength, and stability of the materials used in perfumery are all determined by their chemical structure. It is useful therefore, and of interest, for the perfumer to have some knowledge of the various types of structures that occur, and of their naming and classification. For example, what is meant by the words "phenyl," "ethyl," and "alcohol," and how do these relate to the odor and other characteristics of the material known as "phenylethyl alcohol" ... 

Jellinek, J. S. 1990. A consumer oriented classification of perfumes. Dragoco Report 37 16-29. 

The electronic nose arrays have today successfully been used in a vast number of applications. The electronic noses are particularly appealing in food analysis since they resemble the traditional way of controlling the quality of foodstuffs. The electronic nose is already applied as a complement to sensory test panels in the food industry for product quality classification. Examples of applications are classification of grains [6] and beer [7]. Examples of other consumables tested are tobacco [8] and perfumes [9]. Applications in other areas such as environmental control and pulp and paper quality are also reported in over five hundred references currently found in the literature on electronic noses. 

Note A classification of aromatic components of essential oils and perfumes. Top notes are sharp, penetrating and highly volatile (e.g. citrus oils, peppermint). Middle note characteristics are used to give body to blends (e.g. geranium, lavender). Base notes are the least volatile and used as fixatives to give more permanence (e.g. sandalwood, vetivert). 

See also Carcinogen Classification Schemes Carcinogenesis Fragrances and Perfumes International Fragrance Association (IFFiA) Risk Assessment, Human Health Toxicity Testing, Sensitization. 

A value judgement of lAQ can be given in several ways. One can make a classification (e.g. yes/no), such as ASHRAE 62-1989 [31] uses (is the air acceptable or not), resulting in a percentage of dissatisfied, or one can use a fist of descriptors to describe a chemical substance. The latter is mainly used in the food and perfume industry, from which many classification systems of odours have been developed. 

Apart from the use as a Quality Control device, other areas in which an artificial odour-sensing system could be utilized include all those in which classification of odour is required for example, human body odour, malodours and malodour counteractancy. Another area in which the new instrumentation could be utilized to advantage includes perfume substantivity, or diffusion from a substrate. For example, it could be used to measure levels of perfume in the air from a hard surface cleaner when used on a ceramic tile, or odour from human skin after spraying with a cologne, and so on. 

Perfumers divide these various notes into top, middle and bottom or, more in keeping with the industry image, into head, heart and base. These classifications are based on a combination of volatility and impact of ingredients. The head notes are those which are most obvious on opening a bottle of perfume and the citrus notes, for example, fall into this category. The heart are the medium volatility notes which are responsible for the basic character of the perfume and the base notes are the least volatile notes which help to hold the others back and blend them together. The base notes become more obvious after the rest of the perfume has evaporated. A well balanced fragrance will typically have about 25% head, 50% heart and 25% base. Apart from the fruits, all the... 

Classification Specially denatured alcohol Definition Ethyl alcohol (100 gal) denatured with benzene (0.5 gal), rubber hydrocarbon solvent (0.5 gal), toluene (0.5 gal), or heptane (0.5 gal) Uses Solvent for plastics, resins, photographic film, transparent sheeting, explosives, petrol, prods., dehydration (cellulosics, sodium hydrosulfite) process solvent for pectin, food prods., crude drugs, vitamins, hormones, yeasts, antibiotics, vaccines, medicinal chems., dyes, intermediates, perfumes raw material for ethyl acetate, ethyl chloride, ethylamines, dyes, intermediates, etc. Regulatory FDA 27CFR 21.33 Trade Name Synonyms SDA-2B [Eastman http //www. eastman. com]... 

Figure 4 Classification of seven cosmetic products according to odor pattern recognition obtained using an electronic nose and analyzing the data using PCA. (Reprinted with permission from Van Asten (2002) The importance of GC and GC-MS in perfume analysis. Trends in Analytical Chemistry 2 698-708 Elsevier.)...

Nine LVMH perfumes, six women s perfumes and three men s perfumes were evaluated during the study. According to their generic classification they are quite different, and two of them were common to the first study above (Table 19.3). 

Chingin K, Gamez G, Chen H, Zhu L, Zenobi R (2008) Rapid classification of perfumes by extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (EESI-MS). Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 22 2009-2014... 

---