Philippine Daily Inquirer

INDIA’S JASMINE INFUSES GLOBAL PERFUME

-

MADURAI, INDIA—Heady scents fill the air as skilled pickers in India pluck white jasmine before the still fresh buds are rushed for processing into a valuable ingredient for global perfumes.

Jasmine only issues its powerful scent when it blooms at night, and pickers must select only the ones yet to open.

“We know which one to pick,” said Malarkodi, who gave only one name, as she snapped her fingers carefully to pluck the buds.

Jasmine’s fragrant flowers have been used for millennia in India to honor the gods, and the scent is a key part of world-famous perfumes.

In the ancient city of Madurai in southern India, jasmine is omnipresen­t—attracting buyers from some of the world’s most recognizab­le perfumes, including J’adore by Dior and Mon Guerlain by Guerlain.

“It is one of the most expensive oils in the world,” said Raja Palaniswam­y, a director of Jasmine Concrete, which squeezes jasmine to create the delicious-smelling essence.

The women picking the buds earn around $1.50 a day for about 4 to 5 kilograms—with each kilogram made up of around 4,000 buds.

Once picked, the jasmine is rushed to market, selling for anything between 200 and 2,000 rupees ($2.40-$24) a kilogram on special days.

‘Expression of love’

The jasmine of Madurai has been given a “geographic­al indication” tag from the World Intellectu­al Property Organizati­on in 2013, which noted its “deep fragrance”.

Palaniswam­y said his company sells jasmine oil to companies including Bulgari, Dior and Lush.

In Madurai, the bright, white flower can be found in the homes of the city’s residents, as strings fastened by women to their hair—and in the sprawling 14th-century complex of the Hindu goddess Meenakshi, considered the guardian of the city.

Meenakshi is depicted holding a parrot, a bird associated with love.

Every night, people surround a shrine of the goddess with fragrant jasmine flowers as she retires with her husband Shiva in a grand, symbolic ceremony.

“When you understand that the purpose of this flower is the celebratio­n of love and brotherhoo­d and family and friendship; when you smell it, it takes another dimension,” Wasser said.

“And to me this flower is the expression of love. Period.”

‘Real fragrance’

The process to extract the oil requires long hours of labor.

The women who pluck the jasmine—be it for their deity, weddings, funerals or expensive perfumes—have no time to romance its appeal.

In a jasmine field on the outskirts of the ancient city, women tenderly move the branches of the bush, looking for the perfect bud.

The processing factory runs around the clock in harvest season, with workers raking out fresh-picked flowers and waiting for the oblong-shaped buds to bloom.

“The minute it starts blooming, it starts emitting its fragrance,” Palaniswam­y said.

Late in the night, as the jasmine’s sweet scent fills the air, workers collect the blooms and load them into extractors.

The freshly picked jasmine is immersed in a solvent to absorb the fragrance molecules to give a waxy extract called concrete.

The concrete is further processed with alcohol to remove the waxes carefully, which then results in a potent absolute. This absolute becomes the ingredient in perfumes.

Around 700 kg of fresh jasmine is reduced to just 1 kg of oil, selling for around $4,200, Palaniswam­y said.

 ?? ??
 ?? ?? GATEWAY Jasmine flowers are shipped abroad from a factory in Dindigul, southern India.
GATEWAY Jasmine flowers are shipped abroad from a factory in Dindigul, southern India.
 ?? —PHOTOS BY AFP ?? THE NOSE KNOWS Jasmine harvested from Madurai (right) is checked before packing, above.
—PHOTOS BY AFP THE NOSE KNOWS Jasmine harvested from Madurai (right) is checked before packing, above.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines