Anisaldehyde

Description and usage notes:

Sweet, powdery, vanilla, hay-like but intensely sweet and floral, this is the classic hawthorn ingredient, first synthesised in 1877 it has a long history of use in perfumery.

Arctander gives some good indications of its useage: “Very widely used in perfumery, only restricted because of its poor stability in alkali and in the presence of Amines. Certain fragrance types may contain well over 10% of this aldehyde, while a few percent or less can introduce satisfactory effects in other types. It is an excellent companion to the sharper aldehydes, will round them off and reduce their pungency.”

Anisaldehyde is sometimes used in place of Heliotropine as it is less likely to discolour in soap.