l-Carvone

Description and usage notes:

Sweet, spearmint, herbal and immediately pleasant.

Present in many essential oils and headspace results, l-Carvone first became available in the late 1950s, though it wasn’t until 1971 that it was conclusively shown that the significant odour difference between this material and d-Carvone (which smells of caraway and has a much higher detection threshold) was due to our ability to selectively distinguish the two chiral forms, as distinct from differing impurities or other causes.

Arctander describes it as: “Warm-herbaceous, breadlike, penetrating and diffusive odor, somewhat spicy, in extreme dilution also floral, overall reminiscent of spearmint oil (rectified) … used in perfume compositions, particularly in floral bases, where it introduces enormous power and often lends pleasing natural notes to the fragrance. However, it demands great skill and experience in application. It seems to constitute a very good and compatible companion to Rose Oxide and the Jasmone chemicals.”