Neroli Oil
- Type
- Essential oil
- Botanical name
- Citrus aurantium
- Other names
- orange flower oil, neroli bigarade oil
The tree
The oil comes from the cultivated bitter orange tree, Citrus aurantium subsp. amara. The same tree gives petitgrain oil from its leaves and bitter orange oil from its peel; flowers of the sweet orange tree are not used for a particular oil of their own.[1]
How the oil is made
The flowers are distilled with water or steam immediately after picking, so that they do not start to decay.[1][2] Some of the oil stays dissolved in the distillation water; this water was sold as orange flower water, and in the 1960s it was mostly extracted with a solvent to give orange flower water absolute, a perfume material of quite different composition and scent. The size of the crop depends heavily on the weather, and in poor years the oil is scarce.[1]
Composition
The main components of Egyptian neroli oil, for example, include linalool, limonene, linalyl acetate, beta-ocimene and alpha-terpineol, with smaller amounts of nerolidol and geraniol.[2] Dissolved in alcohol, the oil shows a blue fluorescence, a sign of the anthranilates it contains.[1]
Scent and uses
The scent is very powerful, light and refreshing, floral with a peculiar sweet top note, but it does not last long; in perfumery neroli oil is mainly a top note.[1] Its odour is also described as floral, orange-blossom, citrus, petitgrain, mandarin and herbal.[3] A little goes a long way, and the oil blends with floral, citrus, wood, spice and herb oils.[2]
Next to rose, jasmine and ylang-ylang, neroli is probably one of the flower oils perfumers use most often, and it is a classic of eau de cologne. In flavours it has only limited use, for example in fruit flavours for sweets and in liqueurs.[1] In aromatherapy it is used to ease sadness and grief and to support calm and happiness, and also in skin care.[2]
Quality and storage
In the 1960s, because the oil was costly and its supply varied, it was often adulterated; a good terpeneless petitgrain oil from the same tree was one of the most suitable adulterants, and perfumers kept artificial "neroli bases" as substitutes. The oil keeps poorly: it darkens and thickens with age, and its scent loses its freshness after a few months unless it is kept cool, dark and well sealed.[1]
Safety
No special precautions are described for neroli oil, and it is not regarded as phototoxic.[2]
Products containing it
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Steffen Arctander, Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, Elizabeth, NJ, 1960: Neroli Oil.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 AromaWeb, Neroli Essential Oil. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
- ↑ The Good Scents Company, Odor descriptor listing for neroli. Retrieved 8 November 2026.