Gardenia

Gardenia essential oil

Gardenia essential oil is used in aromatherapy, and as a scent in lotions, candles and other products. It is held to have calming and uplifting qualities. As with Jasmine, Gardenia has a delicate scent that would be ruined by steam distillation; therefore the essential oil was traditionally produced by the labour-intensive process of enfleurage (see the Jasmine page for a description of this process).

One also often sees Gardenia Absolute; meaning that the oil was extracted by solvent extraction (typically hexane or cyclohexane). Absolutes were originally intended for use in perfumery, however, they are increasingly being used in aromatherapy despite concerns over residues of chemical solvents, and even over the addition of synthetic ingredients. [2]

As different species of Gardenia are sometimes used in the derivation of the essential oil, it is to be expected that the fragrance may vary somewhat. Gardenia jasminoides, Gardenia grandiflora, Gardenia taitensis or other Gardenia varieties may be observed in Gardenia essential oil on the marketplace.

Like many of the other fragrant essential oils made from flowers, the price of the genuine essential oil is high, and so synthetic imitations and adulterations abound. It's said that true Gardenia, even as an absolute, is hard to find - although I have seen Gardenia for sale online which is stated to have been extracted via enfleurage using palm oil and cane sugar alcohol. [3] It's important to ascertain whether a Gardenia essential oil is genuine, especially if it is intended for use in aromatherapy - and many products that claim to be Gardenia or Gardenia-scented, are not suitable for aromatherapy.

As with other essential oils, the use of certified organic products is considered good practice, as pesticide residues have been known to taint non-organic essential oils. This has been said to be a serious safety issue although many of the effects remain unknown and difficult to ascertain. [4]

For the creative Gardenia grower: I found one interesting article on how to make Gardenia Essential Oil by enfleurage. [5]

Gardenia - History

Gardenia has a long history of use as a flowering plant and for its fragrance, however I can find no mention of any aphrodisiac qualities ascribed to it in books earlier than 1900 (Google Book search).

Is Gardenia an Aphrodisiac?

As with many of the other popular, fragrant essential oils, one does not have to look too far to see that many of them are regarded as aphrodisiac. A large number of web pages now cheerfully reproduce these claims without citing the sources of their information. In this regard, Gardenia fares similarly to others such as Jasmine - however, we must look further to find the sources of the legends and come closer to the truth.

Turning to the world of science and medicine, we find that Gardenia has been the subject of much scientific investigation - and a search of Pubmed yielded 246 results from medical papers that included Gardenia.

Gardenia shows some interesting qualities and medical potential. A 2008 study from the Department of Pharmacology at Yan'an University, China, showed that Gardenia oil produced sedative and hypnotic effects in mice, and that these effects were increased by combining the oil with jujube seed oil. This is of possible interest because Jujube fruit, Zizyphus zizyphus, is also considered to be an aphrodisiac in Asia. [6] This might indicate some interesting grounds for further research, however, none of the 246 studies listed on Pubmed which include the term Gardenia make any mention of any aphrodisiac qualities, or even that these have been investigated.

One thing worthy of note is that the fruit of Gardenia grandiflora is used to obtain Crocin, a substance which also occurs in Saffron, itself another purported aphrodisiac. [7]

In summary, it seems that Gardenia's reputation as an aphrodisiac scent seems to be unconfirmed by science - however Gardenia's long history of use in perfumery would lead one to imagine that the scent may has an alluring quality. Its continued popularity as an exotic scent its timeless allure as a fragrance... and an attractor.

Gardenia is listed in the AHPA's "Herbs of Commerce", p.81. [8]

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