Petitgrain

Fresh, green and slightly bitter, with a hint of orange blossom and a woody, herbaceous undertone.

Petitgrain in the narrower sense – “petitgrain bigarade” – comes from the bitter orange (Citrus × aurantium), also known as Seville orange or bigarade, a member of the rue family. Today the most important producing country is Paraguay: there the oil is made mainly by smallholders in the departments of San Pedro, Caaguazú, Canindeyú and Cordillera, while smaller quantities come from the Mediterranean, for example France. The name is not tied to the bitter orange, however: oils distilled from the leaves of mandarin or lemon are also traded as petitgrain – such as “petitgrain mandarinier” or “petitgrain citronnier”. Each of them smells distinctly different.

Petitgrain is obtained by steam distillation of leaves and young twigs. In Paraguay the trees are kept low and cut back regularly so that they produce as much fresh foliage as possible. Because the tropical climate lets the foliage grow back almost all year round, work continues for much of the year. The finished oil is a clear, yellowish to brownish-yellow liquid. In the past the small, unripe fruits of the bitter orange were distilled as well – they gave the oil its name.

Petitgrain brings a green, slightly bitter freshness with a floral shimmer of orange blossom to a composition. It works in the opening and the heart of a fragrance and bridges citrus notes and white flowers – which is why it is a classic building block of eaux de cologne and fresh citrus fragrances. Thanks to its high content of linalyl acetate and linalool it blends well with bergamot, neroli and lavender; its woody, herbaceous side gives bright compositions a little more contour. In our range, petitgrain appears in 25 fragrances, 18 in the top and 7 in the heart note.

Citrus-green · Aromatic-floral · Top and heart note

In Paraguay's tropical climate the foliage grows back almost all year round; the main harvest usually falls between October and March, and the trees are cut around twice a year. The distilled oil is available all year round.

In our fragrances, it often appears alongside Bergamotte, Moschus, Amber, Jasmin, Patschuli, Neroli, Zitrone.

The name “petitgrain” is French and means “little grain”: the oil was originally distilled from the small, green, unripe fruits of the bitter orange. Today it is made from leaves and young shoots – the name stayed. Distillation reached Paraguay in the late 19th century: the French botanist Benjamin Balansa, who worked in the country from 1873 and set up a distillery for orange essence there, is regarded as the pioneer. From these beginnings grew a smallholder oil economy that still makes Paraguay the world's most important supplier of petitgrain.

• “Petitgrain” means “little grain”: the name originally referred to the small, green, unripe fruits – today leaves and twigs are distilled.
• Petitgrain from mandarin leaves is dominated by a nitrogen-containing odorant, methyl N-methylanthranilate – there is even a dedicated French standard for measuring it.
• In Paraguay bitter oranges are not grown as tall trees but in low, regularly cut-back rows – what is harvested is the foliage, around twice a year.

The oil from bitter orange leaves is carried by two closely related molecules: linalyl acetate (C₁₂H₂₀O₂, PubChem CID 8294) and linalool (C₁₀H₁₈O, CID 6549). Linalyl acetate is the acetic acid ester of linalool and smells fruity and fresh, reminiscent of bergamot; linalool is floral and fresh. In commercial oils they make up around 45–48% and 20–27% respectively, in laboratory analyses of leaf oils about 37–39% and 26–39%. They are joined by α-terpineol (C₁₀H₁₈O, CID 17100) at around 6 to 12%, a mild, lilac-like terpene alcohol. How much the organs of the same tree differ is shown by the peel: its oil consists mainly of limonene, often over 90%. Petitgrain from mandarin leaves, by contrast, is shaped by methyl N-methylanthranilate.