Lily of the valley is known in perfumery as one of the most iconic “silent flowers”, a flower that yields no essence, and its use in the composition of fragrances is therefore very difficult, if not impossible. In order to create the first-ever commercial sustainable extract obtained from the lily of the valley flower, Firmenich has relied on its patented Firgood extraction technology, which uses the water contained in botanical cells: once warmed up by electromagnetic vibration, the water carries the odorant components, to yield the final pure extract.
World premiere
Developped for the luxury perfume market, Muguet Firgood was developed through a collaboration with French start-up Jungle, a specialist in vertical agriculture, a technology allowing to grow crops in vertically stacked layers for reduced land and water use.
According to Firmenich, Muguet Firgood is a pure and 100% natural ingredient with fresh and authentic notes never obtained before. “It is the first time in the history of perfumery that an extract of this flower has been captured with a safe and sustainable process, offering a completely new olfactory profile with genuine tonalities,” said the company in a statement.
Low environmental impact
The Firgood technology does not require any solvent. The dry biomasses only needs water humidification and the whole extraction process only requires low energy consumption and generates clean wastes that can easily be upcycled. Combined with Jungle’s unique capabilities in vertical farming, allowing to create clean and highly efficient farms, the technology provides high yields with a very low environmental impact.
“Our strategic partnership and joint expertise with Jungle on sustainable technologies now makes it possible for our perfumers to capture and harness the genuine natural scent of this exquisite flower to the benefit of our customers and of consumers,” said Julien Firmenich, Vice President Product Strategy and Promotion. “Muguet Firgood is a truly rare and precious ingredient.”
Firmenich will market Muguet Firgood as a captive ingredient intended for the fine fragrance market. It will thus complete the exclusive range of natural ingredients available to the company’s perfumers.
By combining their respective expertise, the partnership between Firmenich and Jungle should shape new sustainable natural ingredients for the fragrance market.
“This project with Firmenich has strengthened our protocols and expertise in cultivating plants, in our vertical farms, for their enhanced biological activity,” underlined Gilles Dreyfus, President and Co-founder of Jungle. “We are now well positioned to support the cosmetics and nutraceutical industries by providing safe, local and reproductible plant extracts.”
