'''Oil of guaiac''' is a [[fragrance]] ingredient used in [[soap]] and [[perfumery]]. Despite its name it does not come from the ''[[Guaiacum]]'' tree, but from the [[Bulnesia sarmientoi|palo santo]] tree (''Bulnesia sarmientoi'').<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fragrantica.com/notes/Guaiac-Wood-36.html |title=Guaiac Wood perfume ingredient, Guaiac Wood fragrance and essential oils Bulnesia sarmienti |publisher=Fragrantica.com |date=1921-04-04 |access-date=2016-01-14}}</ref>
Oil of guaiac is produced through [[steam distillation]] of a mixture of wood and sawdust from palo santo. It is sometimes incorrectly called guaiac wood [[Concrete (perfumery)|concrete]]. It is a yellow to greenish yellow semi-solid mass which melts around 40–50 °C. Once melted, it can be cooled back to room temperature yet remain liquid for a long time. Oil of guaiac has a soft roselike odour, similar to the odour of [[hybrid tea rose]]s or [[Viola (plant)|violet]]s. Because of this similarity, it has sometimes been used as an [[adulterant]] for rose oil.<ref name="Guenther1992">{{cite book|last1=Guenther|first1=Ernest|title=The Essential Oils: Individual Essential Oils of the Plant Families|date=1992|publisher=Krieger Publishing Company|isbn=9780894647734|pages=28, 197–9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjTmAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Oil+of+guaiac%22|access-date=19 October 2017|language=en}}</ref>
Oil of guaiac is primarily composed of 42–72% [[guaiol]], [[bulnesol]], δ-[[bulnesene]], β-[[bulnesene]], α-[[guaiene]], [[guaioxide]] and β-[[patchoulene]]. It is considered non-irritating, non-sensitizing, and non-[[phototoxic]] to human skin.
Oil of guaiac was also a pre-[[Renaissance]] remedy to [[syphilis]].
== See also == * [[Guaiacum]]
== References == <references/>
==Further reading== * D.L.J. Opdyke, 1974, Food Cosmet. Toxicol., 12 (Suppl.), 905
[[Category:Essential oils]] [[Category:Soaps]] [[Category:History of pharmacy]]
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