Pine and fir: the resinous freshness of conifer needles
Pine and fir give conifer oils with a fresh, resinous, woody and slightly camphoraceous smell, the scent of crushed needles. Much of that smell comes from one molecule in the needles, bornyl acetate.
Where do pine and fir notes come from?
Pine and fir notes come from trees in the Pinaceae family, such as balsam fir (Abies balsamea), native to eastern and central Canada and the northeastern United States, or Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), from Europe and northern Asia. Wikipedia's balsam fir article calls it the most fragrant of all Christmas tree varieties and notes that its resin is used to make Canada balsam.
Industrial pine oil is made differently: stumps and other wood not fit for lumber are ground and steam-distilled, giving a heavy fraction of turpentine made mostly of alpha-terpineol.
What do pine and fir smell like?
Pine and fir smell of fresh resin. Wikipedia's bornyl acetate article describes the molecule as a component of pine needle oil and the main source of its woody, piney, herbal, spicy, camphoraceous and slightly minty odour. In black spruce, another conifer, bornyl acetate makes up 37 to 45% of the needle oil.
Why are pine and fir oils regulated?
Pine and fir oils oxidise as they age. The IFRA Standards require essential oils and isolates from the Pinaceae family, including the Pinus and Abies genera, to keep peroxide levels below 10 millimoles per litre, for example by adding antioxidants at production. In the EU, Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 also requires labels to name Pinus mugo and Pinus pumila leaf and twig oils, turpentine and pinene.
What should you know about pine and fir?
Pine is one of the woods commonly used in perfumery, and pine and fir resins are a valued source of terpenes. These conifers belong to the woody family, next to cedarwood; diluted galbanum has even been compared to pine. If that smell takes you straight to December, you will find it again in our class on the scents of Christmas.
Further reading
- Abies balsamea (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- Pine oil (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- Pin sylvestre (Wikipédia) fr.wikipedia.org
- Bornyl acetate (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- Acétate de bornyle (Wikipédia) fr.wikipedia.org
- The complete IFRA Standards, up to and including the 51th Amendment (January 2024) ifrafragrance.org
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1545 of 26 July 2023 amending Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards labelling of fragrance allergens in cosmetic products eur-lex.europa.eu
- Perfume (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- Galbanum (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
Pine and fir in the feed
hamish_heatherin Woods, Mosses & Roots · Edinburgh ·
ExercisePencil, pine cone, peppercorn: a drawer test
Aye, a wee one for a dreich weekend. Sharpen a pencil, bring in a pine cone, crack a black peppercorn. Smell them in that order, then backwards, and write down what each one shares with the next. Don't loose the shavings, they're the woodiest of the three.
callum.peat Did it on my break at the depot. Pencil and peppercorn share a dry, dusty bit. The pine cone is the odd one out, sticky and sweet.
noah.fogin Woods, Mosses & Roots · Halifax ·
Snapshot
Fog and rain on the spruce trail
Fog off the harbour, then rain on the spruce all morning. The trail smelled like a cold Christmas tree soaked in sea water.
noah.fogin Everyday Smells · Halifax ·
Snapshot
Fog and low tide on the Halifax waterfront
Fog in all morning, low tide, spruce on the hills. Seaweed, cold rock and woodsmoke from somewhere.
shona.whin The haar in Aberdeen smells just like that, plus the fish market.
priya.cardamomin Woods, Mosses & Roots · Toronto ·
ChallengeDescribe a wood without saying 'woody'
Thread of the week: describe one wood without using the word 'woody'. 1) Pick a wood you can smell right now: a pencil, a cedar hanger, a log by the fire, a chopping board. 2) Give us three things it smells of, real things, not adjectives. 3) Name the wood at…
juniper_jules Hamster cage, the inside of a hope chest, my sketchbook pencil. Easy one, cedar.
brynn.pinein Woods, Mosses & Roots · Minneapolis ·
Snapshot
Wet maple leaves and balsam at the nursery
Raking leaves at the park nursery after a night of rain. Wet maple underfoot, balsam fir along the fence, and somebody's woodstove going down the block.
lupe.pinonin Welcome to the Club · Santa Fe ·
Introduction
Piñon smoke and a school bus in Santa Fe
I drive the school bus in Santa Fe, and any evening now the first piñon fires start and the whole town smells sweet and smoky. Nothing beats it for me. I'm trying to learn resins and woods, slowly.
frankie.incense Fun fact: oud, the dark resin-soaked wood, forms in Aquilaria trees after a fungal infection, says Wikipedia's entry on agarwood . [Piñon is…
In the Classes
Class no. 21 · 6 min read
The scents of Christmas: spice, orange, pine and why they move us
The scents of Christmas come from a handful of materials, cinnamon, cloves, orange, pine, candle wax and honey, that many people have met every December since childhood; and the memories a smell brings back tend to be early and emotional. By the end of this Class you'll be able to pick them out one by one, say what carries each smell, and explain why they bring memories back.