Extraction process :
Grapefruit is a fruit that can grow up to 15 centimetres in diameter. The cultivation of this fruit requires sunshine and great periods of heat.
The fruits are grown from January to June. A second harvest can happen if the weather conditions are favourable. Harvest can be done manually or mechanically according to the growers. In the case of a mechanical cultivation, a tractor passes between the tree rows to shake the fruits and collect them into a receptacle. The fruits are transported to the factory where they are sorted and washed with water.
The second step is to squeeze the essential oil of the citrus zest in a sfumatrice. Then, the essential oil and zest debris are washed away to a centrifuge to separate the oil from the water and the waxes. After that, the essential oil is collected.
The yield of grapefruit essential oil is between 0.16 and 0.2%.
Grapefruit can be deterpened by fractional distillation of the essential oil to separately collect grapefruit terpenes and a deterpenated essential oil, which concentrates the essential oil aldehydes, giving it more power.
Chemotypes :
The genus Citrus includes the vast majority of citrus fruits and includes a large number of varieties available in perfumery:
Bergamot - (Citrus bergamia) is a hybrid of lemon and bitter orange, grown for the essential oil of its fruit and petitgrain.
Bitter orange or bigarade orange - (Citrus aurantium), grown in Spain and Florida.
Citron - (Citrus medica), grown in Italy (Sicily).
Lemon - (Citrus limon), cultured in Italy for the essential oil of its fruit and of its leafy twigs (Petitgrain).
Combava - (Citrus hystrix), grown in Thailand and India.
Lime - (Citrus aurantifolia), grown for its fruit in Mexico for the most part.
Mandarin - (Citrus reticulata), grown mainly in Italy for its fruit and for its petitgrain, by extracting the leaves from the tree. Its hybrid with sweet orange gave birth to clementine.
Orange - (Citrus sinensis) is famous for the cultivation of its fruits, whose juice and essential oil are extracted in Brazil and California in particular, which is the most used of all perfumes.
Grapefruit - (Citrus paradisii) of Malay origin, is cultivated for its essential oil in Brazil and Israel in particular.
Yuzu - (Citrus junos), produced in Japan and Korea.
Aromatherapy :
Informations provided below are taken from reference works in aromatherapy. They are given for information purposes only and can not constitute medical information, nor engage the responsibility of ScenTree.
Grapefruit is indicated as an aerial antiseptic, to disinfect premises.
Comments :
The limit only applies to applications on skin exposed to sunshine, excluding rinse-off products (please refer to Table 4 of the QRA booklet for more detailed information). If combinations of phototoxic fragrance ingredients are used, the use levels have to be reduced accordingly. The sum of the concentrations of all phototoxic ingredients, expressed in % of their recommended maximum level in the consumer product shall not exceed 100. Note: See remark on phototoxic ingredients in the Introduction to the IFRA Standards (Appendix 8 to the IFRA Code of Practice) and the Standard on Citrus oil and other furocoumarins-containing essential oils. For qualities of the expressed oil in which less volatile components have been concentrated by partial or total removal of the terpene fraction, this limit should be reduced in proportion to the degree of concentration.