Blue Lotus Absolute

Blue Lotus absolute is extracted from the blue Egyptian Lily, Nymphaea caerulea. The fragrance of an authentic absolute is quite faint and will always reflect the many different unsaturated hydrocarbons present in the extract.

Two of the main constituents of this absolute are unsaturated hydrocarbons. One is 6Z, 9E Heptadecadiene and the other is 8 Heptadecene. While the first double unsaturated component is apparently not commercially available, the latter, 8 Heptadecene is. One can purchase 5 mg (that is 5 one thousands of a gram, or in aromatherapy terms one fiftieth of one drop) for $153. This is a rare example showing how sometimes authenticity can be supported by analysis--no one would buy this component to adulerate or reconstruct an absolute. The natural product (8 Heptadecene), though quite expensive calculated as a fraction of the whole absolute, is less expensive than the artificial copy from the laboratory.