Dr. Kaiser gave an extremely fascinating talk, giving us an insight into how the larger perfume/flavour companies such as Givaudan go on explorative expeditions to discover new perfumery and flavour molecules, principally using the technique of “headspace analysis”, using equipment to trap and analyze the air, or headspace around rare and exotic plants and flowers, while still in their natural habitat, without removing them or endangering their existence.

Dr. Kaiser described their studies of rainforests in French Guyana and Madagascar.

The use of headspace technology began in the 1970’s when studying the scent of Lily of the Valley. It is not possible to extract Lily of the Valley, or upon extraction it does not yield a useful extract smelling anything like the flower. The technique was then used to study other delicate or rare plants.

An adsorption trap is used with solvent elution (not thermal elution).
Followed by Solid Phase Extraction (S.P.E.).

Papua New Guinea, January 2000

Lowland rainforest, very hot and humid (lot of mosquitoes and leeches)
On just one branch, Dr. Kaiser found 12 different orchids.

Hoya Unda Namdanga which simply means “beautiful flower”.
(It had a chocolatey, brown, fruity, wine-like odour.)
Headspace analysis identified R-(-)-2-Pentyl Benzoate.

Then they visited the Mountain Mist forest at a height of 2000 feet.
Enormous biodiversity, so many undescribed species, orchids, moss, lichens.

Kapiak – a giant fig.
(Sweet, coumarinic, fruity, fig-like).

Amazonian Rainforest, October 1996

They used a blimp/airship with a platform suspended underneath to allow access to plants of interest. Hot air balloons can also be used.

Beta ionone occurs in 18% of these investigated species.
Di hydro beta ionone in 12% and so on.

Dr. Kaiser investigated an exotic flower with a long, orange influorescence pollinated by humming birds – which are not attracted by scent.

Souroubea guianensis – ionone floral

Bignonia – lovely, fruity, floral, rich coconut, vanilla (this one could almost be a complete perfume!)

Its main constituents were found to be:
Linalol, indol, Beta ionone, vanillin (3-5%) Methyl cis-(2)-jasmonate.
(The 3-5% above is the percentage in the reconstitution – extrapolated from 0.3% found in the headspace.)

Philodendron solimoesense
The technique is not just used for flowers – these are the roots which were used for headspace analysis.
The reconstituted odour is citrus, woody, earthy.
85 constituents identified including:
germacrene, d-cadinene, cis rose oxide, cis hedione

Fresh wood of Wacapou.
Very fruity, woody, damascone-like.
They identified copaene, d-cadinene, damascenone and vanillin.

100 species of Passiflora.
Passiflora chocoensis
Spicy floral, eugenol, methyl eugenol, 3-methyl-4-decanolide

For the flavourists present, Dr. Kaiser illustrated how the aromatics discovered could also be found to occur in wine flavours and related some of the flowers / ingredients to particular types of wine / grapes.

“Oak Lactones” – Sauternes Chateau d’Yquem
Sour, wine-like, fruity, cis and trans-3-methyl-gamma-octalactone.

Dr. Kaiser explained how it is the trace constituents of a wine flavour that characterise the bouquet – less than 2%. The other 98% of the constituents could be common / very similar to a multitude of other wines!

Continuing with the Amazonian Rainforest.
More orchids,
Rosey, floral, ionone,
Green, floral [some of these only emit scent for a very short time e.g. one hour at dawn.]

Cyphromandra divariata
Its aroma is faecal – contains skatole and para cresol.
Another one contains 13% skatole and 70% para cresol – it is an extremely rare species.

Tropical W. Africa

Aframomum species. All plant parts are highly scented.
We were shown a smelling strip of the fruit scent.
Fruity, ginger, dewfruit-like (but less fruity/peachy) – hot and cool at the same time.

Londolphia manii
Fruit – Mokale-Mbembe fruit
Very lactonic, banana, mango-like.
They have identified beta ionone, gamma decalactone, methyl cinnamate
geraniol, cis-3-hexenol, hexanol.
 

Madagascar

Masoala peninsular, NorthEast Madagascar.
The rainforest has been declared a National Park. It is difficult to get to, either by walking for four days to the camp or accessible by boat.

Again there is extreme richness of orchids. About 1200 species.
They flew by balloon again, but this time the canopy was quite different.

Angraecum sesquipedale
Its pollinator is an insect with a very long proboscis.
It is totally odourless during the day. Pollinated by a night-active moth species.
Aroma related to lily/nicotiana species with a touch of tuberose.

Secamon flower – very green, fruity, floral, appley, passionfruit-like.
Hexyl caproate 5%, PEA 1.5%, Beta ionone 0.5%, Linalol 4.5%, Edulan 10.05%
4-methyl-4-mercapto-2-pentanone 0.00001% (very low odour threshold.)

Canarium madagascanensis
- fruit with a very strong terpenic odour. Eaten by a monkey / ape that lives there.

By the sea of Madagascar, some more interesting plants.

Syzygium jambos – the so-called “rose apple”.
Contains rose oxide.

Lychees – Lichi chinensis
Cis rose oxide, linalool, geraniol
Dr. Kaiser likens it to a good Gewurtzraminer - Grand cru! Again characterized by <2% of the constituents – cis rose oxide, nerol oxide, damascenone (more important for wine than for roses! (It is in rose absolute, but not in fresh roses.)
Also a citrus/grapefruit note, 3-mercapto-hexanol.

2-methoxy-3-iso butyl pyrazine is emitted by a flower further along the Madagascar coast. This compound is also important in wines, especially Sauvignon Blanc.
Also raspberry ketone, (hexyl acetate, ethyl caproate – these are part of the 98% which does not characterise the wine.)

Finally a flower that looked rather like the “spider lily” from Singapore.
White floral scent with a chocolate, nutty note.

Pandanus
Stephanotis species (coryanthes?) hanging down from the trees.
Very spicy, white floral scent.
Very heady, spicy, jasmin / lily (the jasmin here is a little carnation-like).
 

Julie Towle

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This report is the writer's interpretation of the event. It is not intended as a verbatim account and should not be read as such.