Blackcurrant in perfumery
We continue our overview of raw materials used in perfumery with the blackcurrant. You will learn about its origin, treatment, benefits, and how it’s being used in perfumery and in food flavouring.
History of blackcurrant
Botanical name: ribes nigrum
Botanical family: Saxifragaceae, Grossulariaceae
Main constituents: allyl amyl glycolate, sabinene, caryophyllene beta
This fruit was apparently known to the Greeks and Romans. In the 12th century archaeologists were able to testify to its therapeutic action, particularly as a cure for gout.
This tree appeared in France at the end of the 16th century, but it was only in the 18th century that the word blackcurrant was coined. Until then, it was called poyvrier, most likely due to its black berries.
Origins of blackcurrant
The fruit has a smooth skin and usually forms bunches. The blackcurrant bud, which is mainly grown in Burgundy, comes from a tree called the blackcurrant tree, which can grow up to two metres high.
The blackcurrant is a bushy shrub that grows wild in Northern Europe, as far as Lapland and Siberia.
Russia is the world's largest producer of blackcurrants, with 300 000 tonnes of blackcurrants per year, mainly for self-consumption. France is in fourth place behind Poland and the United Kingdom.
In France we note the largest productions of blackcurrant buds in Burgundy, in the Loire Valley and in the Rhone Valley. 70% of blackcurrant buds are reserved for the perfume industry. Blackcurrant harvest takes place from the end of November to the end of February.
Blackcurrant is very popular in Europe. Manufacturers and perfume houses develop other new natural fruity notes. There are different categories of fruity notes:
- Red fruits: blackcurrant or blackcurrant bud, raspberry, strawberry, cherry, wild strawberry, blueberry, blackberry
- Yellow fruits: peach, plum, apricot
- Exotic fruits: coconut, mango, pineapple, banana, passion fruit
- Watery fruits: melon, watermelon
- Juicy fruits: pear, apple, lychee, kiwi
- Others: figs
Processing and manufacturing of the blackcurrant raw material
The blackcurrant note has been worked in perfumery since the 1960's-1970's. Blackcurrant absolute is obtained by solvent extraction via the concrete obtained from the blackcurrant buds.
30 kg of blackcurrant buds are needed to obtain 1 kg of absolute. Most of the time, blackcurrants are picked by hand, due to the high cost of mechanisation. As one person can only pick 1 kg of buds per day, the price of this raw material is quite high.
Properties and uses of blackcurrant
Blackcurrant is a popular product in pharmacopoeias from India to Europe. It is used in the pharmaceutical industry. Blackcurrant has many virtues, the fruit is rich in vitamins C and B12, the leaf has antioxidant and laxative properties.
It is active against respiratory infections, migraines, flu, viral diseases, rheumatism, arthritis, etc.
It is also recommended as a treatment for dogs bitten by vipers, as the leaves can treat insect bites.
Other uses of blackcurrant
Blackcurrant is widely used in pastries (jellies, jams, ice creams, tarts, etc.) and is also very well known in the form of liqueur. Crème de cassis appeared in 1841 in Dijon in the famous kir, a mixture of wine and liqueur, succeeding the ratafia, an aperitif drink made from grape juice, alcohol and macerated blackcurrant buds.
The glory of blackcurrant reached its peak when King Louis XV, stopping for lunch in Neuilly after a hunting trip, tasted ratafia for the first time and then introduced it to the court.
Blackcurrant is a raw material processed in Grasse, important in perfumery but also in food flavours. It is very much appreciated in industrial cooking for its acidic flavour, as this very aromatic note is also fruity and sweet.
A museum entirely dedicated to blackcurrants is in the south of Dijon in Nuits-Saint-Georges, the Cassissium Museum.
Olfactive description of blackcurrant bud
Blackcurrant is one of the natural raw materials of the perfumer's palette, first used by Guerlain in the perfume Chamade in 1969. It is a note that lies between green and red fruit scents. It can have unpleasant overtones when badly dosed or orchestrated, it can smell like cat urine, sweat or boxwood bushes.
It is a very powerful raw material that runs through the entire olfactory pyramid and can be smelled from the top notes.
The different facets of blackcurrant: green, sulphurous, fruity, a little woody, liquorous, vinous, bitter, balsamic.
Use of blackcurrant in perfumery
Blackcurrant buds are often used in citrus, floral or oriental perfumes.
Perfumes containing blackcurrant
Here are the perfumes containing blackcurrant:
- Chamade by Guerlain
- Champs-Elysées by Guerlain
- Aqua Allegoria : Pamplelune by Guerlain
- First by Van Cleef
- Rose by Cardin
- Sublime Balkiss by The Different Company
- L’Ombre dans l’Eau by Diptyque
- Amazone by Hermès
- Belle de Minuit by Nina Ricci
- In love Again by Saint Laurent
- Corsica Furiosa by Parfum d’Empire
- Angel et Angel Innocence by Mugler
- Oscarine by Sylvaine Delacourte Paris
Sylvaine Delacourte fragrances
Discover Sylvaine Delacourte's brand with her Orange Blossom, Musk and Vanilla Collections. You can try them thanks to the Discovery Boxes (5 Eaux de Parfum x 2 ml) and rediscover these raw materials as you have never smelled them before.