Improving the Scent, Air Diffusion and Staying Power of GUCCI “Guilty” Absolute, Christian Dior J’ Adore Perfumes, and Bvlgari Men Extreme Cologne through Addition of Rice Stink Bug and Stink Weed Defensive Terpene Secretions to the Perfumes.

Improving the Scent, Air Diffusion and Staying Power of  GUCCI “Guilty” Absolute, Christian Dior J’ Adore Perfumes, and Bvlgari Men Extreme Cologne through Addition of Rice Stink Bug and Stink Weed Defensive Terpene Secretions to the Perfumes.

Raymond J. Sucgang, R. Ch.

             Perfumes are alcoholic tinctures of  essential oils blended together to produce a solution that can be pleasing to the olfactory faculties and believed to have health benefits aside from smelling nice.  Scents can bring back memories and associations and give a unique sensorial experience.

             Essential oils make up the “notes of the perfume.” The combination of essential oils in a fragrance, called an “accord,” has a lot to do with the quality and performance of a perfume. Essential oils contain diverse terpenes. Hence, they are basically present in every perfume oil.

            Terpenes are an significant group of aromatic compounds that gives the odor of many flowers, fruits, leaves, woods, seeds, and roots. Terpenes are mostly present as constituents of essential oils. They are mainly hydro-carbons. They are made from a five-carbon isoprene or 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene (CH₂C(CH₃)CHCH₂) unit. Hydrocarbons which are terpenes have a molecular formula of (C₅H₈)n; the n dictates the number of units involved. Terpene hydrocarbons are classified according to the number of isoprene units:

Monoterpenes: 2 isoprene units, 10 carbon atoms.

Sesquiterpenes: 3 isoprene units, 15 carbon atoms.

Diterpenes: 4 isoprene units, 20 carbon atoms.

Triterpenes: 6 isoprene units, 30 carbon atoms.

Tetraterpenes: 8 isoprene units, 40 carbon atoms.

(Aldred, E.M.,et.al, 2009.Parmacology)

           Here are examples of terpenes most common in essential oils

             Non-cyclic monoterpenes: geraniol (scent: flowery, rose-like; geranium, rose oil), nerol (scent: rose-like; neroli oil, bergamot oil), linalool (scent: lilies of the valley-like, lavender oil) and citronellol (scent: rose-like, rose oil, lemon oil) are terpene alcohols. The terpene aldehydes citral A (geranial), citral B (neral) have a lemon-like scent and occur in both lemon oil and lemon grass oil.

             Monocyclic monoterpenes: p-menthane (peppermint-like scent; eucalyptus globulus), limonen (lemon-like scent; lemon oil) and the alcohols menthol (cool mint scent; mint oils), terpineol (lilac-like scent; juniper oil) as well as the ether eucalyptol (1,8-cineol; camphor-like scent; eucalyptus oil) belong to this group. Carvone (caraway oil) is a terpene ketone with a caraway-like scent.

           Camphor: is the prototype of a bicyclic monoterpene. It has the typical cooling "camphor scent" which even turned into a technical term used for characterizing other fragrant substances. Camphor occurs in the oil of the camphor tree which belongs to the lauraceae family. Its irritating and stimulating effect on the microcirculation is used in ointments and creams against muscular pains and neuralgia.

            A monocyclic sesquiterpene alcohol as well is α-bisabolol, the main active agent of the chamomile with antimicrobial effects which is also found in lower concentrations in further essential oils like e.g. bergamot oil.

(https://www.dermaviduals.de/english/publications/special-actives/fragrances-vitamins-and-hormones-the-abc-of-terpenes.html)

            The blending of modern perfume ingredients makes use of both natural essential oils and synthetic fragrances. Synthetic perfume ingredients perform as effectively as the natural products. Terpenes extracted from plants and animals have found their synthetic counterparts too which provide cheaper and easier to obtain ingredients.

             Essences derived from animals have been used in perfume making throughout history. They vary from the spit of the sperm whale, or the poop of the civet cat, or the secretions of a deer. 

            The manly smell of the perfume “Musk” is derived from a basenote extracted from the muskpod (a sack in the musk deer). The compound is actually used by the deer in attracting a mate. Auspiciously, nowadays, perfume makers do not use animal-derived ingredients. They have shifted to cheaper and animal cruelty free alternatives in the form of synthetic chemicals. Muscone is the synthetic substitute for musk.  (https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-musk-and-where-did-it-come-from-2016-2).

            One common starting material for many perfume ingredients is  benzene. From benzene, 2-phenlyethanol  is produced. Phenylethanol is a major component of rose oils and is extensively used in perfumery for its blending qualities. From Phenylethanol,  many esters that are used in perfumery can be derived, like acetate, isobutyrate and phenylacetate ( http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2003/teo/realbenzenes.htm).

            The longevity of a perfume depends on a large extent to the essential oils used to make the accord. Perfumers use combinations of top, middle, and base notes to complete an accord. These notes are usually connected together by a bridge note. The right blending and choices of top, middle, and base notes are trade secrets to good smelling, long lasting perfumes.

          The presence of odoriferous plants and insects in the near vicinity of my private laboratory, the R.J. Sucgang Center for research in the Natural Sciences in Napti, Batan, Aklan, provides an interesting exotic sources of  natural essences that can be extracted and blended to perfumes to improve volatility  and odor. Some compounds can smell obnoxious  when pure. But when made part of the mixture, they impart bulkiness to the accord and or increase the dispersing ability of perfume.

            One thing that caught my attention was the odoriferous insects that infect rice plantations a few kilometers away from the Center. Notable was the “tanangaw.” Tanangaw, as called by the locals is the Rice Ear Bug (Leptocorisa oratorius), an insect with a very strong offensive smell, very injurious to plants, especially to rice. Defensive secretion produced by adult males and females of Leptocorisa oratorius, Fabricius (Hemiptera: Coreidae) living on the host plant, Oriza sativa, was analyzed by a combined gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy technique. Both male and female secretions consisted of two major components: (E)-2-octenal andn-octyl acetate, 76% and 16% (w/w), respectively. The remaining 8% were trace compounds, some of which were identified as hexyl acetate, 3-octenal, 1-octanol, and (Z)-3-octenyl acetate. (Gunawardena, NE, Bandumathie, MKJ. (1993). Defensive secretion of rice bug, Leptocorisa oratorius fabricius, (Hemiptera: Coreidae): A unique chemical combination and its toxic, repellent, and alarm properties (Chem Ecol. 1993 Apr;19(4):851-61)..

            Maceration of the fleshy tissues of Leptocorisa oratorius in the presence of 95% ethyl alcohol, sonication, followed by filtration and vacuum distillation of the filtrate, afforded the odoriferous tincture.

            The odors emitted by Lantana camara did not escape my attention. L. camara is a highly variable ornamental shrub, native of the neotropics. It has been introduced to most of the tropics and subtropics as a hedge plant and has since been reported as extremely weedy and invasive in many countries (https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/29771#tosummaryOfInvasiveness)

           Previous studies have reported the extraction, separation and examination of the triterpenes from the alcoholic extract of Lantana camara L. was carried out using both column and thick layer chromatography after certain treatment. The compounds α–amyrin, β–sitosterol, lantadene B as well as an acidic triterpenoid substance, m. p. 130–131° C, were isolated (Planta Med 1972; 22(5): 34-37).

            The leaves of Lantana camara were found to be rich in terpenes in the form  of essential oil. In a study done by Mariajancyrani.J, et.al (INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN PHARMACY, BIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY, Vol. 3(1), Jan - Mar, 2014 ISSN: 2277 – 468), Gas chromatography and Mass spectrometry analysis of terpenes lead to identification of 8 compounds. This  analysis revealed that the terpene fraction contains mainly 10-Hydroxy-2, 4a, 6a, 6b, 9, 9, 12a-heptamethyl - 1, 2, 3, 4, 4a, 5, 6, 6a, 6b, 7, 8, 8a, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12a, 12b, 13, 14b-eicosahydropecene-2-carboxylic acid (Katonic acid). 

          In our laboratory, steam distillation was used to extract the essential oil from Lantana camara. Leaf accessions were placed in steel steam distillation vessels and were pressure cooked, followed by distillation. The distillate was a two phase liquid with the essential oil floating in the aqueous phase.  The essential oil was isolated from the water using a separatory funnel. The essential oil emitted strong, herbaceous odor.

          Incorporating 2 mL of the tincture of Leptocorisa oratorius and 1 mL of patchouli oil, in GUCCI “Guilty” Absolute perfume (3.30FL.OZ) created a modified GUCCI perfume with a very appealing scent and improved diffusion. The tincture functioned as diffusion drivers to the perfume. This is yet to be confirmed by laboratory studies though.

            Incorporating the essential oil (1mL) of Lantana camara to original Christian Dior J’ Adore (3.4 oz) improved the staying power of the perfume. Again, this has to be confirmed by laboratory tests so far. The Lantana camara oil blended perfectly with the base and middle notes of J’ Adore increasing the anchorage of the top and middle notes to the base notes.

            Adding the Leptocorisa oratorius tincture to Jo Malone scents (“Wild Blue bell,” and “Lime, Basil, and Mandarin”), did not produce satisfactory smell. The odor of the rice bug seemed to overpower the scent of the perfume. The same effect was also observed on incorporating Lantana camara oil on Bvlgari Pour Femme.

          Adding Leptocorisa oratorius (2mL) to Bvlgari Men Extreme Cologne (100 mL) produced a manly,  intriguing scent that was agreeable to both men and women. The modified scent deviated much from the original scent and produced a different variety which is more fresh and penetrating in relation to the original Bvlgari Men Extreme.