How Industrial Ovens Are Revolutionizing Perfume Manufacturing

Perfume manufacturing is known since the ancient world, from the time of the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, and Romans. At the beginning of modern civilization, fragrance production presented the extraction of natural oils, herbs, or wood, in addition to burning incense from spices such as cinnamon. Fragrances were used not only for cosmetic reasons but also for ceremonies. 

These days, everyone enjoys pleasant scents, not only for personal use - but also to aromatize the surrounding space with scented candles, or bamboo sticks, as well as for aromatherapy. Perfume production has become a modern industry that has seen a lot of development in the process and techniques of extraction and required aging of the oils. This industry is rapidly expanding after the start of mass production in the 19th century, and estimations value the current market at over $30 billion. Therefore, this article gives a brief overview of the perfume manufacturing process and mentions where industrial ovens are included in the procedure, and how modern technology revolutionizes this industry.

Present are a couple of methods for oil extraction from plants, fruits, and wood for perfume manufacturing. These include the oldest form of oil extraction – expression, which presents the mechanical squeezing of the plant material (typically fruits) for oil separation. In addition, other methods are solvent extraction (using chemicals), enfleurage, extraction via steaming and boiling (steam distillation), etc. Important to mention is today’s widely used method in the fragrance industry  - the steam distillation process. Here, oil extraction is easily achieved using steam from boiling water, which passes through the plant material. A prolonged exposure (typically more than 60 minutes) to such high temperatures causes condensation of essential oils and separation from the plant, which is later cooled down. Similarly, another type of distillation is waterless distillation (also known as dry distillation). 

Most perfumes originate from plant extraction, but they can be a mixture of hundreds of ingredients, which contain both natural and synthetic ingredients. Fragrance manufacturing uses around 2,000 types of flowering plants that include the right oils. Moreover, the production process of a single perfume may require oil extraction from hundreds of flowering plants, in addition to some ingredients that can be very expensive. Some brands even have their flower fields. For manufacturers, creating a flawless mixture of hundreds of ingredients can be a long-lasting process of mixing and testing before the final recipe is completed.  As a result, high prices for luxury perfumes are reasonable when this is taken into consideration. 

However, manufacturers nowadays increase their reliance on synthetic ingredients, to be able to imitate scents from plants that do not contain the required oils for manufacturing and to increase cost-efficiency in the meantime. Such ingredients are produced in laboratories by chemists that are specialized in perfume manufacturing. Additionally, more companies are producing vegan fragrances, where some of the scents are synthetic, which allows producing excellent fragrances, without animal-based ingredients. This is when modern industrial ovens have importance for the perfume manufacturing industry. Industrial ovens revolutionized the method of oil extraction from plants by applying gentle heat to the plant material. This process initiates the vaporization of essential oils used for perfume manufacturing. Later in the process, these oils condense, are cooled down and are turned into liquid. This liquid can then be mixed with other ingredients to achieve the desired and unique scent.

Taking the final recipe into consideration, all the ingredients are later mixed with alcohol and water, as the next step in the process. The alcohol content also defines the resulting type of fragrance and the content of extracted oils. Hence, the mixture can result in a perfume, a cologne, or an Eau de Toilette, with Extrait de Parfum having the largest percentage of essential oils, typically up to 30-40% of essential oil concentration. On the other hand, Eau de Parfum typically includes up to 20% extracted oils, while Eau de Toilette up to 15%, and cologne and other body sprays – up to 10%. 

At the end of the manufacturing process, the aging process follows. Fragrances stay undistributed in a cool and dark environment for a couple of months, or even years, until the desired maturity level is reached. This means that manufacturing perfumes takes a lot of time and effort to be produced. 

After the aging process is completed, the products are quality tested, cooled, and filtered. Quality assurance also incorporates a very important measure – safety for public health. As a result of this testing stage, it is guaranteed and confirmed that the fragrances do not contain any harmful substances and ingredients that may be dangerous when used or are banned for usage. Meanwhile, the testing expert who must be specialized and specially trained in fragrances is typically known as the “Nose”, and is the responsible expert for testing. Hence, although the fragrance manufacturing process is largely developed, and improved and may include plenty of automation in the procedure, some steps are manual. Even some of the old and traditional oil extraction methods are commonly used in today’s perfume industry.

Last but not least, packaging and transporting of the bottles follows, which is a complex process itself, as glass bottles have to be adequately protected, which includes proper wrapping and other protective materials. Moreover, as a result of the flammable high ethyl alcohol content, perfumes have to be shipped without using air cargo. 

In conclusion, perfume manufacturing is a complex process that requires the proper knowledge, but also having the right equipment at the same time.

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