There are about 200 species of roses in the ROSA genus in the world today. 95 of them come from Asia, 87 from Europe and 18 from North America. In the states of Colorado and Oregon, archaeologists have even discovered fossilized roses that are 32 million years old. The rose genus is further divided into decorative varieties, of which there are more than 20 thousand and they predominate over the so-called "oil roses", or those that contain silicate (ethereal) substances. These aromatic components are then, to put it simply, captured into ethereal (or essential) oil through the distillation process. In the world of aromatherapy today, you will encounter essential oils mainly from these 4 roses:
Rosa damascena with small pink-white flowers and world-renowned highest quality essential oil, 3,500 – 4,000 kg of fresh blooming flowers need to be distilled to produce 1 kg of this oil
dawn rose with white to light pink flowers and a very rare essential oil, 6,000 – 7,000 kg of fresh blooming flowers need to be distilled to produce 1 kg of this oil
Gallica rose with purple-pink to dark red flowers and a small percentage of essential oil, it is mainly used to produce absolutes using the solvent extraction technique
Rose centifolia with heavy pink flowers and a low percentage of essential oil, it is used to make absolutes using the solvent extraction technique
German cultivation experiment
Globally recognized highest quality rose oil comes from the Bulgarian Damask rose (Rosa Damascena Mill.) grown in the Bulgarian Rose Valley, a 120 km long strip stretching between two mountain ranges that protect the rose bushes against cold winds from the north and warm winds from the south. At the same time, it creates ideal temperature and humidity conditions. Roses love short but intense beneficial spring rains and mild winters with cool springs. Did you know that at the beginning of the 20th century, Germany tried to produce essential oil of the same quality from planted Bulgarian damask roses?! And how did it turn out? Without success! The roses grew, but the flowers were so few and with such a low intensity of aroma and content of essential substances that it was not possible to distill the essential oil.
The best and most expensive
Or as Robert Tisserand said: “The best and most expensive rose oil comes from Bulgaria… It is obtained from the Damascus rose, which can only be successfully grown in a mountain belt of about 240 square miles and 1300 feet above sea level.” (R. Tisserand – The Art Of Aromatherapy). Or Gabriel Mojay writes in his book: “The Bulgarian Syrian rose, cultivated since the 16th century, is said to produce a distilled essence or senna of the finest quality…. Most of the rose oil produced in France is extracted with solvents from the rose bush, producing an ‘absolutum’ extract…it is cheaper…but it is not a true essential oil and is generally not recommended for therapeutic use as it contains traces of toxic solvents.” (G. Mojay – Aromatherapy for Healing the Soul).
Roses in ancient rituals
It is not for nothing that the Bulgarian Rose Valley is territorially overlapped with the ancient Valley of the Thracian Kings inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The magic of the place is very strong. The tradition of growing roses in this zone goes very deep. According to the documents of archaeologists and mentions in the books of Roman historians, these fragrant cultures were grown here already 2500 years ago. Pliny the Elder (23-79) wrote in his History thatThe Thracians in the Roman Empire grew roses, and one of them stood out for its intoxicating scent. It was called the “Thracian Rose.” What exact type of rose it was, unfortunately, we have no idea today. We know for sure that roses were used for ritual purposes not only during the Rosary celebrations, but also during the celebrations of the god Dionysus and in everyday life. The ancient Thracians made eye ointments and included them in their overall skin care. By the way, the healing effects of roses were also mentioned by Pedanius Dioscorides (1st century), who wrote in his Materia Medica that roses are great for the eyelids. And if we go back to the Middle Ages, Trota of Salerno (12th century) mentioned roses as a great helper in skin and lip care. And her contemporary St. Hildegard spoke of roses as a cold plant that cools the eyes.
Red or pink
The Latin word ROSA comes from the Greek RODON, meaning red. And the Bulgarian Damask rose is often referred to in its homeland as the “red rose”, even though its color is light pink. Officially, it is called the Kazanlak Damask Rose (Rosa Damascena Mill. f. trigintipetala Dieck) and is a descendant of the breeding of oil roses in the Rose Valley, where it was transferred by the Ottoman Turks sometime between the 16th and 18th centuries. Unfortunately, we do not know exactly when, because between 1396 and 1878 Bulgaria was under their cruel rule. This time is referred to as the “Dark Ages”, when all written documents were destroyed and the identity of the Bulgarians was suppressed. Nevertheless, there are many folk legends about the transfer of roses. Today, the Institute of Roses and Ethereal Cultures in Kazanlak, which is located in the center of this magical valley, carries the intoxicating scent of millions of blooming Damask roses once a year.
And we will talk about how rose oil was used in folk medicine or, conversely, what its scientific high-tech use is today in the second part, coming soon.
Buy rare Bulgarian rose oil here.
Information taken from:
Publicly available information from the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture (Министерство на жерелдето и храните), https://www.mzh.government.bg/bg/
"HISTORICAL INFORMATION ABOUT ROSES AND ROSES", karlovobg.eu
"Червена казанлъшка роза, маслодайна роза, адресь и приложение на билката", bilki.bg
"Ползи за средства на етеричное масло от роза", bilki.bg
Анка Дончева – Маслодайна роза, 2020.
Gabriel Mojay – Aromatherapy for Healing the Soul, 2019.
Robert Tisserand – The Art of Aromatherapy, 1977.
