The five most commonly used commercial varieties of animal natural fragrances are musk, civet, castoreum, ambergris and muskrat. They are all good fixatives and are widely used in perfumes. Or in high-end cosmetics.

1. Musk

(1) Source: Musk is secreted by the gonads of male musk deer living in the plateaus of southwestern and northwestern China and the cold zones of northern India, Nepal, and Siberia. things. Male musk deer begin to secrete musk at the age of 2, and the best secretion period is around 10 years old. Each musk deer can secrete about 50g

(2) Collect the musk sac located at the navel of the musk deer, which is conical in shape. or pear shape. The ingredients secreted from the scrotum are stored here and are excreted from the body through the central hole at any time. The traditional method is to kill musk deer to get the scent, cut the sachet and dry it. The modern scientific method is live musk scraping. China's Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces have achieved success in raising musk deer, which is of great significance to the protection of wild resources.

(3) Characteristics: After drying the musk sachet, cut the sachet and take out the musk in the form of dark brown granules, and white crystals sometimes precipitate in those with superior quality. It has a strong odor in the solid state and has a unique animal aroma after being highly diluted with water or alcohol.

(4) Ingredients: Dark brown musk powder is mostly composed of animal resins and animal pigments. Its main aromatic component is muscone, a saturated macrocyclic ketone that accounts for only about 2%. In 1906, Walbaum isolated this macrocyclic ketone from natural musk, and in 1926, Ruzicka determined its chemical structure to be 3-methylcyclopentadecanone. Later, Mookherjee et al. further studied the components of natural musk and identified that its fragrance components include 5-cyclopentadecenone, 3-methylcyclotetradecanone, cyclotetradecanone, 5-cyclotetradecanone, and musk. There are more than a dozen macrocyclic compounds such as pyran and musk pyridine.

(5) Uses Musk is regarded as one of the most precious spices in the East. It not only has a warm special animal aroma, but also has a strong ability to retain other aromas in essences. It is often used as a fixative for high-end perfume essences. In addition to being used as a spice, natural musk is also a valuable Chinese medicinal material.

2. Civet Fragrance (Civer)

(1) Source There are two types of civets: big civets and small civets. Produced in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China and India, Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Ethiopia and other places, both male and female civets have two cystic secretion glands. They are located between the anus and genitals. The viscous substance secreted by the sachet is used as civet fragrance. .

(2) Collection The ancient method of collection is similar to that of musk. After killing the civet, cut off two 30mm×20mm gland sacs, scrape out the civet incense and seal it in a bottle for storage. The modern method is to raise civet cats, and adopt the method of regular scraping of live cats, several grams of fragrance each time, which can be scraped about 40 times a year. This method has been used in the Hangzhou Zoo in China for many years.

(3) Characteristics: Fresh civet incense is a light yellow flowing substance, which will solidify into a brown paste after being left for a long time. It has an unpleasant odor when concentrated, but releases a pleasant aroma when diluted.

(4) Ingredients: Most of the civet incense is animal mucilage, animal resins and pigments. Its main component is civetone, an unsaturated macrocyclic ketone that accounts for only about 3%. Sack was successfully isolated in 1915. In 1926, Ruzicka determined its chemical structure to be 9-cycloheptadecenone. Later, Mookherjee, Wan Dorp and others further analyzed the natural civet fragrance components and identified two other fragrance components. There are 8 macrocyclic ketone compounds including hydrocivelone, 6-cyclohexadecenone, and cyclohexadecanone.

(5) Uses: The aroma of civet is more elegant than that of musk, and it is often used as a fixative for high-end perfumes. As a valuable Chinese medicinal material, it has the effect of clearing the brain.

3. Castoreum

(1) Source Beavers live in small river banks or lakes. The main producing areas are Russian Siberia and Canada. Both male and female beavers have two pear-shaped gland sacs near their genitals, which contain a white milky viscous fluid, which is castoreum.

(2) Collection: After killing the beaver, cut the sachet, dry it, take out the castoreum and seal it in a bottle.

(3) Characteristics: Fresh castoreum is a milky white viscous substance, which becomes brown resin after drying. Russian castoreum has a leathery-animal aroma.

Castoreum produced in Canada is turpentine-animalic. After dilution, it has a mild animal fragrance.

(4) Most of the ingredients castoreum are animal resins. Except for trace amounts of salicin (C17H18O7), benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol, and p-ethylphenol, its main ingredients are 4 % to 5% of crystalline castorin (Castorin) whose structure is unknown. In 1977, Swiss chemists analyzed and identified nitrogen-containing aromatic components such as castoreum, quinoline derivatives, trimethylpyrazine and tetramethylpyrazine in castoreum.

(5) Use: Mainly used as a fixative for oriental fragrances.

4. Ambergris

(1) Source Ambergris is produced in the intestines of sperm whales. There are different opinions on the origin of ambergris. It is generally believed that it is a kind of calculus formed by sperm whales swallowing a large number of marine animals. It is excreted from the whale's body and floats on the sea or washes up on the coast. The main producing areas are the tropical coasts of southern China, India, South America and Africa.

(2) Collection of ambergris floating in the ocean, ranging from several kilograms to several hundred kilograms. Ambergris pieces are picked up on the ocean and matured to become ambergris spice.

(3) Characteristics: Ambergris is a gray or brown waxy lump. It begins to soften at around 60°C, melts at 70-75°C, and has a relative density of 0.8-0.9. The aroma of ambergris newly discharged from the body of sperm whales is weak, and the aroma gradually increases after natural aging due to long-term drifting at sea or natural oxidation after long-term storage.

(4) In addition to being found to contain a small amount of benzoic acid, succinic acid, calcium phosphate, and calcium carbonate, ambergris also contains organic compounds such as organic oxides, ketones, aldols, and cholesterol. compound. It is said that ambergris is the main component of the aroma of ambergris. Its molecular formula is C30H52O and its structural formula is:

(5) Uses Ambergris has a weak and mild frankincense animal aroma. The quality of incense is the highest. It is a good product for preparing high-end perfume essences and an excellent fixative.

5. Muskrat (Muskrat)

(1) Source: Secretion from the sachet of artificially raised adult male muskrat (Ondatra zibethica).

(2) Collection April to September every year is the fragrance secretion period of muskrats, and artificial living bodies are used to collect fragrance.

(3) Characteristics: Fresh muskrat incense is a light yellow viscous substance, which becomes darker after being left for a long time. Has a musky aroma.

(4) Ingredients: Muscone, normuscone, cycloheptadecanone, etc.

(5) Purpose High-end daily fragrance and fixative