GENET

Description

Wild or cultivated shrub 2 to 5 m (7 to 16 ft.) tall. It grows on the rocky coasts, in fields, woods, and arid and rocky mountain areas of central and southern Europe and around the Mediterranean basin. The plant has grayish stems with numerous, flexible branches, alternate leaves, and gold-yellow flowers arranged in terminal racemes that blossom in May. The part used is the flowers. Genet has a rose and honey-like, persistent odor with a slight, herbaceous note.
The derivatives are concrete, absolute, tincture, and extract. The concrete is obtained by extracting the dried flowers in approximately 0.1% yields with petroleum ether; the absolute is prepared by alcoholic extraction of the concrete. A tincture also is prepared from the absolute. The concrete is a viscous, brownish mass with a sweet, honey-like intense odor that characterizes all other derivatives as well.

Chemical properties

The concrete is obtained by extracting the dried fowers in approximately 0.1% yields with petroleum ether; the absolute is prepared by alcoholic extraction of the concrete A tincture is also prepared from the absolute It has a sweet, honey-like, intense odor that characterizes all other derivatives The deep herbaceous coumarinic background has great tenacity.

Chemical properties

Wild or cultivated shrub 2 to 5 m (7 to 16 ft) tall It grows on the rocky coasts, in felds, woods, arid and rocky moun- tain areas of central and southern Europe and around the Mediterranean basin The plant has grayish stems with numerous, fexible branches, alternate leaves and gold-yellow fowers arranged in terminal racemes that blossom in May The part used is the fower Genet has a rose and honey-like, persistent odor with a slight, herbaceous note.

Occurrence

Found in the flowers of Spartium junceum L.(Fam.Leguminosae) (Guenther,1952).

Preparation

By alcoholic extraction of the concrete (Fenaroli′s Handbook of Flavor Ingredients, 1975).

Definition

Extractives and their physically modified derivatives. Cytisus scoparius, Leguminosae.

Essential oil composition

In addition to triterpene and spartitrioside (the constituents of the flowers), five flavonoid glycosides bearing a catechol structure in ring B were isolated from the butanol extract, and their structures were elucidated as isoquercitrin (quercetin 3-beta-glucoside), luteolin 4?-beta-glucoside, quercetin 3, 4?-diglucoside, azaleatin 3-beta-glucoside (quercetin 5-methylether 3-beta-glucoside) and quercetin 4?-beta-glucoside.

Taste threshold values

Taste characteristics at 30 ppm: sweet, hay, warm, herbal tea with a woody, herbal nuance.