It is produced by steam distillation of the comminuted roots of the plant- Levisticum Officinale.



The plant grows wild in Europe and is cultivated in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary and Yugoslavia.

The oil is very expensive. It is mainly used flavour industry viz.alcoholic beverages and tobacco flavours.

Usage level in flavours is upto 10 ppm.

It finds limited applications in fragrances and used upto 2% in perfume formulations.

It smells like angelica, celery, oakmoss, opoponax and chamomile.

The oil blends well with Bay leaf oil, Costus root oil, Lavandin oil,etc.

The chemical composition [ in percentage] of major components is as follows;

Ligustlide-60-65

3-Butylidene phthalide-3-4

Linalool-2-3

Beta-pinene-2-3

Beta-selinene-6-8

Alpha-terpineol-4-6

Ocimene-1-2

The minor components reported in the oil are Bornyl acetate, Beta-cubebene, Para-cymene, Pentyl benzene, Terpinyl acetate,etc.