Geranium Chinese Essential Oil

Adam Michael has this to say “Luscious green in colour, Chinese geranium possesses an instant hit of fresh geranium and rose, rich, a little fruity with a distinct metalic dewy rosy floralness. As a high impact top note, this Chinese geranium is my firm favourite of all the geraniums we offer and it is a must for rose accords. However the heart and base notes are weak and lacking in comparison to Bourbon or the Egyptian offering in my opinion.

The chemistry of this geranium is ‘citronellol’ rich, accounting for just over 40% of the oil, that’s 50% more than commonly found within the Bourbon offering and about 25% more than Egyptian material. Citronellol is a key natural constituent of rose, the amount presence can vary greatly but it has been found at up to 40% in rose oils as well. Also you will find between 10-15% of citronellyl formate within this Chinese geranium which in isolated form has a very clean fresh smell with a hint of rosiness and fruitiness about it.”

A little story about Algerian geranium by me Adam Michael : ) 

Whilst Egypt and China are the big producers of geranium oil today, it is worth mentioning that back in the 1950’s and into the early 60’s, Algeria (part of African continent) was under French rule and was actually a very big producer of eudesmol rich geranium. At this time you had all the French ex pats in Algeria who would have farms producing this geranium which was classed as a luxury product for the Western world. However it came to an end for political reasons, the Algerian civil war broke out followed by the eventual independence from France in 1962 and subsequently the French farmers were driven out of Algeria. The land was taken over by Algerians who used it to produce food for the local population, opposed to luxury oil for the Western world.

Also on the subject of Moroccan geranium I see listed by various resellers, it does not have the right climate and has never been a country with great success producing Geranium as it’s plagued with drought. I know you may ask about Egyptian material but that all grows near the Nile Delta which has a brilliant irrigation system in place. Reunion material is subject to plenty of rain as well and if it doesn’t rain, the morning dew and mists combined with the ever rich volcanic soil are enough to feed the Reunion plant.”

Botanical Name: Pelargonium graveolens

Origin: China