Plum

Juicy-sweet and darkly fruity, with the creamy, slightly winey depth of ripe late-summer fruit.

The European plum, Prunus domestica, belongs to the rose family and is closely related to cherry, peach and apricot. It probably arose in western Asia, south of the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea; its parents are usually thought to be the cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) and the sloe (Prunus spinosa), although genetic studies give contradictory results. Prune plums, greengages, mirabelles and bullaces all belong to the same species and cross easily with one another. Today the plum is grown in many countries of the temperate zone.

There is no essential oil from the flesh of the fruit, so perfumers recreate the plum scent as an accord. The model is the chemistry of the ripe fruit: in analyses, esters such as hexyl acetate form the largest group of volatile compounds, alongside alcohols, lactones such as δ- and γ-decalactone, and terpenes such as linalool. In the accord, esters provide the juicy freshness and lactones the creamy, ripe fullness; darker, winey facets come from further building blocks.

A plum accord gives compositions a dark, juicy-sweet fruitiness with creamy depth. It usually sets in as early as the opening and carries the fruitiness into the heart, where it pairs well with rose, spices and woods. In our range, plum appears in 38 fragrances, 26 in the top, 12 in the heart and one in the base note.

Fruity · Lactonic · Top and heart note

As an accord made of aroma materials, the plum scent is available all year round regardless of the harvest; the trees flower white in spring.

In our fragrances, it often appears alongside Vanille, Patschuli, Moschus, Sandelholz, Tonkabohne, Rose, Zedernholz.

The plum has accompanied humans for millennia: plum stones show it has been used for at least around 6,000 years, with finds from Neolithic settlement sites. In Roman times it was widespread; along the Limes in Germania archaeologists have found numerous stones of plum, peach and sloe. Plum stones were also recovered from the Viking settlement of Hedeby. The German name “Zwetschge” recalls Damascus, which was already regarded in antiquity as the fruit's home. From the 19th century, French varieties from the Agen region turned California into a centre of prune production.

• The German word “Zwetschge” goes back to Late Latin “damascena” – “plums from Damascus”.
• The Japanese “ume”, often called the Japanese plum, is more closely related to the apricot than to the plum.
• Even at the Viking settlement of Hedeby on the Schlei, archaeologists found plum stones.

The aroma of the real plum is a mixture of many faint voices. In analyses, esters make up the largest share of the volatile compounds; especially odour-active are esters such as ethyl 2-methylbutanoate and hexyl acetate (C₈H₁₆O₂), alongside lactones such as δ- and γ-decalactone (C₁₀H₁₈O₂) and linalool (C₁₀H₁₈O). Lactones are ring-shaped esters and typically smell creamy and fruity. Genetically, the European plum is a special case: it is hexaploid and carries 48 chromosomes, while the cherry plum has only 16.