Geranium essential oil
- Type
- Essential oil
- Botanical name
- Pelargonium graveolens
- CAS number
- 8000-46-2
The plants
Rose geranium is an upright shrub up to about 1.3 m tall, wild in two areas of South Africa, with velvety, strongly rose-scented leaves covered in tiny glands. It is a pelargonium, not a true geranium: both genera belong to the same plant family.[1]
The plants widely grown for oil are commercial hybrids. European breeders crossed rose geranium with other South African pelargoniums for two centuries, and the commercial rose-scented geraniums are hybrids of complex and partly unclear ancestry.[2] Almost all of them made the same journey: from South Africa to Europe, and from there to the regions where they are now grown for oil.[3]
Production
Geranium oil is distilled from the leaves and small branches, usually twice a year. The yield is small, 0.1 to 0.3% of the plant material, so a tonne of leaves gives only 1 to 3 kg of oil.[3]
Besides the essential oil, the same plant material gives a concrète and an absolute, extracted with solvents, and a water absolute from the distillation water. The absolute smells leafier and earthier, less sharp and longer-lasting than the distilled oil.[3]
Composition and types
The oil consists mainly of the alcohols citronellol and geraniol and their esters, the ketones menthone and isomenthone, and smaller amounts of hydrocarbons such as limonene. Plants of the wild species fall into chemical types (chemotypes) that accumulate mostly isomenthone, mostly geraniol or mostly citronellol.[2]
In one comparison of commercial oils from China, Réunion, Morocco, Egypt and Australia, the share of (+)-citronellol, one of the two forms of citronellol, varied widely: about 17 to 35% in Réunion oils and 24 to 40% in Egyptian oils, for example.[4] Oils from different growing regions also differ in their other main components; an Egyptian oil studied by gas chromatography contained about 10% each of menthone and linalool, an Indian one much more geraniol.[5]
Scent and use in perfumery
Geranium oil smells floral and rose-like, fresh, green, herbal and minty; individual oils add notes of citronella, dill or fruit.[6] It is a strong middle note that dominates a blend if overused.[7]
Geranium oil has long counted among the most important perfumery oils by value.[3] In the perfume trade it is used as a substitute for the expensive attar of roses.[1] Perfumers use it widely in men's perfumes and in rose-scented perfumes.[6]
Quality and adulteration
Because geranium oils are valuable and their main components are made synthetically, they are often adulterated. A skilful adulteration shows up only when an experienced nose and laboratory analysis, such as gas chromatography, are used together; smell alone is not enough.[3]
Regulation
In the EU, citronellol and geraniol, two main components of geranium oil, are fragrance allergens that cosmetics must name on the ingredient list above 0.001% in products left on the skin.[8] Analysed Egyptian oils have contained up to about 21% citronellol and 18% geraniol.[6]
Safety
Geranium oil can cause skin hypersensitivity or dermatitis in some people.[9] Test a little on the skin first. Do not use the oil on the skin undiluted.[10]
Fragrances, natural ones included, can make asthma worse, and in a small survey of people with the condition, one said geranium oil sometimes caused problems.[11]
Properly diluted, geranium appears to be safe in pregnancy.[10] Swallowing essential oils is not recommended: a professional aromatherapy body sees potential risks of irritation of the mouth and stomach and of interactions with medicines.[12]
In mice, rose geranium oil reduced chemically caused skin inflammation; this has not been shown in people.[13]
Products containing it
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ebrahim Lawrence, South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), Pelargonium graveolens. PlantZAfrica, November 2002. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Distinct metabolic pathways drive monoterpenoid biosynthesis in a natural population of Pelargonium graveolens. Journal of Experimental Botany, doi 10.1093/jxb/erz397.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Steffen Arctander, Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, Elizabeth, NJ, 1960: Geranium Absolute, Concrète, Water Absolute and Oil, pp. 194-199.
- ↑ Brian M. Lawrence, Progress in Essential Oils: Geranium Oil. Perfumer & Flavorist 28 (January/February 2003), table T-7, p. 65.
- ↑ Mass Spectral Fragmentation of Pelargonium graveolens Essential Oil Using GC-MS Semi-Empirical Calculations and Biological Potential. Processes 8 (2020), 128.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 The Good Scents Company, geranium oil egypt. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
- ↑ AromaWeb, Geranium Essential Oil. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
- ↑ European Parliament and Council of the European Union, Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, Annex III.
- ↑ Alliance of International Aromatherapists (AIA), Essential Oils Handbook.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), Safety. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
- ↑ Robert Tisserand, Proof of Safety: Challenges Facing Essential Oil Therapy. AIA Conference 2007.
- ↑ International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (IFPA), Statement on Internal and Undiluted Use of Essential Oils. November 2019.
- ↑ M. N. Boukhatem et al., Rose geranium essential oil as a source of new and safe anti-inflammatory drugs. Libyan Journal of Medicine 8 (2013), 22520.