Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, page 188.
Generally, the commercially available Hay Absolutes are viscous liquids, dark amber, dark green or brownish green in color, occasionally they are soft masses of olive-brown color.
The odor is powerful and extremely sweet, quite diffusive, coumarin-like and faintly herbaceous, very uniform and tenacious. The undertone is almost jam-like sweet, reminiscent of figs or preserved prunes in odor type.
Hay absolute could be used in flavors, but the coumarin-ban is, at least ethically, extended to such natural products which contain significant amounts of coumarin.
Hay Absolute is used in perfumery not only in 'new mown hay' bases, or in combination with flouve, melilotus, tonka, woodruff, deertongue, etc., but also as an individual note to be introduced whenever a truly herbaceous-sweet undertone is required: in lavender, fougére, chypre, colognes, tea-notes, 'tabac'-notes, forest-notes and various bouquets. Interesting effects are obtained with hay absolute in jasmin bases, orange flower bases, etc.
The botanical material is extracted with petroleum ether to produce a concréte. The absolute is prepared by alcohol washing of the concréte.
Restricted IFRA-standard materials typically present in this NCS at the listed concentrations.
| Constituent | CAS | Typical % |
|---|---|---|
| Coumarin | 91-64-5 | 8% |