Apple Perfumes

Hexyl acetate and ethyl 2-methylbutyrate: the molecules in apple

The cultivated apple (Malus domestica) belongs to the rose family. Its most important wild ancestor is the Asian wild apple (Malus sieversii), which still grows in the mountain forests of the Tian Shan in Kazakhstan; the European crab apple has also contributed to its genome. There is no apple essential oil for perfumery – the scent is rebuilt from individual molecules. The fruit itself is the model: several hundred volatile compounds have been found in apples, and the ripe scent is shaped above all by esters. Among the most important are hexyl acetate (C₈H₁₆O₂), with a juicy apple-pear tone, and ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (C₇H₁₄O₂), with green, fruity freshness. Green accents come from cis-3-hexenol (C₆H₁₂O), which smells of freshly cut grass. Damascenone, a rose ketone, adds warmth with a sweet apple undertone.

In a fragrance, apple is crisp, juicy and bright – green and tart or round and sweet, depending on the accord. It opens a composition with lively freshness. With bergamot or mint it feels clear and zesty, with rose or peach fruity and floral, with cinnamon or vanilla warm like a baked apple.

In this selection, apple sits in the fragrance pyramid – mostly in the top note.