Research notes
Synthetic Methyl Salicylate and You
Alexis St-Gelais, chimiste Essential oils are worth quite a lot of money. It so happens that, in order to boost profits, unscrupulous people alter oils in various ways. This “Adulterants and you” series is there to introduce you to some of the adulterations we encounter. This is because not all of them are necessarily obvious, […]
Read moreHow Much Agarwood in your Agarwood?
Hubert Marceau, Chimiste, B. Sc. Agarwood is an oil with a very specific odor profile. Almost no two oils will have the same exact smell: sometimes it is leathery, other time smoky, some even have fruity notes and other lots can smell a bit cheesy. The reason for that come from how it is produced. Agarwood is […]
Read moreCaffeine, an early morning subject !
Dany Massé, Chimiste, B.Sc. May you drink it black, espresso or with cream, almost everyone have his own recipe for a tasty coffee. Whatever your style, there is one question that people always ask: is there more caffeine in an espresso or in an ordinary filter coffee? Ask around and most people will have some […]
Read morePublished Paper: the Scent of Indian Celery
Alexis St-Gelais, M. Sc., chimiste The flora of North America is still lush with aromatic plants that have not (yet) been studied for their volatile compounds. One of these blindspots was, up to recently, a plant commonly called Indian celery (figure 1), as well as cow parsnip, which is found throughout the continent. This species (Heracleum […]
Read moreDieugenol: An Ageing Product in Clove Basil Hydrosol
Research note – Alexis St-Gelais, M. Sc., chimiste The clove basil (Ocimum gratissimum) comes for Africa. Upon distillation, it yields an essential oil containing mainly eugenol and β-caryophyllene. Circle H Institute is an organization dedicated to furthering the knowledge about hydrosols. Its manager, Ann Harman, contacted us after performing clove basil hydrodistillation using a copper apparatus. After […]
Read moreVolatile constituents of American willow male flowers
Alexis St-Gelais – Research Notes The hexane extract (concrete) of young male flowers of American willow (Salix discolor Muhlenberg) was analysed by gas chromatography. Beside the waxy compounds, the main detected constituents are floral-scented alcohols and salicylaldehyde. The results are a good example of the usefulness of processing concretes into absolutes. In our region, one of […]
Read morePublished paper: The Scent of Wild Chervil
Alexis St-Gelais – Research Note PhytoChemia is an uncommon business. We launched the company while still completing our master degrees, which meant we were knee deep in fundamental research in chemistry. One of the motivations – especially for me – of setting up our laboratory was to have our very own scientific playground. As chemists, […]
Read morePublished Paper: Interesting and Rare Compounds from Bolivian Molle
Research Note – Alexis St-Gelais, M. Sc., chimiste Essential oils can sometimes be surprising. It so happens that well-known species that have been frequently studied yield, in particular conditions, peculiar volatile molecules that are otherwise not widely recognized to be characteristic of the plant. When such an observation is made, it is useful to publish […]
Read moreAnalysis of Hydrosol of Quaking Aspen
Alexis St-Gelais – Research Notes Two batches of young male flowers of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) were submitted to hydrodiffusion. The resulting hydrosol was analysed by gaz chromatography. The main constituents of sample #1 were 1,2-cyclohexanedione, characteristic of poplars, as well as benzyl alcohol and benzoic acid, while sample #2 was dominated by benzyl benzoate. […]
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