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Jasmine
BOTANY
Jasminum officinale L., commonly known as white jasmine, belongs to the Oleaceae family. This family
includes about 150 species, most of them native to the warmest regions of Europe. Jasmine is a
climbing shrub with perennial leaves. Older stems are thin and woody and may reach several meters in
height. Younger stems twist as they grow and eventually adopt a spiral shape. These are the stems that
bear the leaves. The leaves are opposite, pinnate, dark green, with three pairs of sharp-pointed leaflets
plus one terminal leaflet larger than the others and with an attenuated tip. The flowers are arranged in
groups of one to five at the end of the branches. Each flower is composed of a tubular calyx with five or
eight sepals, a corolla, which is cylindrical at the base and expanded at the top, two stamens enclosed
into the corolla tube and a two-chamber ovary. The heavily scented flowers appear from June to
October. Since they are born on the youngest stems, the plant has to be pruned only during the Fall. The
fruit is a shining black berry. J.officinale is native to China, north of India, Pakistan and the northeast of
the Himalayas. It is completely acclimatized in the central and southern regions of Europe. It is usually
grown in European gardens as an ornamental plant, especially the perennial varieties such as
J.nudiflorum, a variety with yellow flowers commonly known as winter jasmine or J.floridum, an almost
perennial shrub with yellow flowers. Jasmine flowers must be harvested manually, one by one, during
the dawn hours so that the sun does not shrivel them. Otherwise, up to a 20% of the fragrance may be
lost. Jasmine concentrate is produced in Italy, France, Morocco, Egypt, China and Turkey.
Jasmine extract is obtained from the flowers.
CHEMISTRY
Essential oils
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alcohols: linalol, nerol, farnesol, terpineol.
ketones: Jasmone (3-4%), trans-methyljasmonate, jasmonic acid, jasmolactone, methyldihydrojasmonate, cis- and trans-ethyljasmonate.
other alcohols, esters and ketones: benzyl acetate (4.5-25%), benzyl alcohol, phenylacetic acid,
methyl heptanone.
aromatic compounds: eugenol, eugenyl acetate
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Fig.1. Structure of jasmonic acid.
Fig.2. Structure of jasmone.
Other active principles
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phenols: p-cresol.
alkaloids: indol (2.5-5%), methyl anthranilate.
TRADITIONAL USES
As a medicinal plant, jasmine has traditionally been considered an aphrodisiac, soothing, antiseptic,
antispasmodic, stimulant, anti-depressive, emollient, rejuvenating and calming agent. In the folk
medicine, the roots and leaves of some jasmine species are used as an antihelmintic and to fight against
ringworm and tapeworm. Even when at present, it is rarely used in the western World, the syrup of
jasmine flowers was formerly used to relief cough and the infusion of jasmine leaves was used to rinse
sore eyes and wounds. Jasmine is popularly known to reduce stretch marks as well as to treat aged skin
by preventing wrinkles, reaffirming and soothing it. Jasmine oil is one of the most expensive and hard-toproduce oils. It is extensively used in the perfume industry due to the properties of its essential oils,
which contribute to create quality perfumes. It is one of the components of the famous fragrance
Channel Nº5. Several types of jasmine are used as ornamental plants.
COSMETIC PROPERTIES
Essential oils are well absorbed through the skin. It has been demonstrated that skin permeability to
terpenes – the most abundant components of essential oils – is 100 times faster than permeability to
water, and that α-pinene may be detected in the air for as long as 20 minutes after vaporized (Buchbauer
G., 1990).
Spasmolytic activity
Jasmine absolute shows a marked in vitro spasmolytic action on isolated guinea pig ileum and rat womb.
Some evidences indicate that its in vitro spasmolytic or relaxing actions on the smooth ileum muscles
are related to its calming effects on humans. Lis-Balchin M. et al. (2002) carried out an in vitro study
aimed at understanding the action mechanism of jasmine absolute on the smooth muscle of guinea pigs
and the relationship with its effects on humans. Their results provided reliable data to suggest that the
spasmolytic activity of jasmine absolute was due to its capacity of increasing intracellular cAMP and
possibly, of blocking calcium channels thus preventing the entry of calcium into the cells.
Therefore, jasmine is useful when formulating cosmetic products with soothing and anti-stress effects.
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Anti-inflammatory activity
Atta AH. et al. (1998) evaluated the anti-inflammatory effects of jasmine against acute inflammation –
xylene-induced ear oedema in mice – and chronic inflammation – cotton pellet-induced granuloma in
rats. They demonstrated that jasmine exerted anti-inflammatory effects against both acute and chronic
inflammation. These authors also demonstrated that this activity was due to the chemical composition of
jasmine extract.
Thus, jasmine extract is well recommended when formulating cosmetic products aimed at the treatment
of sensitive and/or irritated skin.
Antimicrobial activity
Antimicrobial activity is due to its essential oil content. Essential oils in general have antiseptic power
against several pathogenic bacteria, even habitual antibiotic-resistant strains. The active doses are
generally small and the doses used in in vitro experiments may be directly used in external applications
or as preservatives (Bruneton J., 2001).
Essential oils have antibacterial and antimicrobial activities. These activities are very useful in cosmetics
when formulating deodorant or anti-halitosis products (Buchbauer G., 1990).
Thanks to this property, jasmine is well recommended when formulating cosmetic products with an
antiseptic action.
COSMETIC APPLICATIONS
Action
Active
Cosmetic Applications
Spasmolytic
Essential oils
-Relaxation and anti-stress cosmetics
Anti-inflammatory
Essential oils
-Sensitive/irritated skin
Antimicrobial
Essential oils
-Antiseptic cosmetics
RECOMMENDED DOSE
The recommended dose is between 0.5% and 5.0%.
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RECOMMENDED DOSE
Atta A.H. Anti-noceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of some Jordanian medicinal plant extracts. J
Ethnopharmacol., 1998; 60: 117-24.
Bruneton J. Farmacognosia. Zaragoza: Ed. Acribia, 2001; p: 487 (651*1 BRU).
Buchbauer G. Aromatherapy: Do Essential Oils Have Therapeutic Properties? Perfumer & Flavorist, 1990; 15: 4750.
Council of Europe. Natural sources of flavourings. Germany: Council of Europe Publishing, 2000; p:207-10 (633.82
BAU).
Lis-Balchin M. Jasmine absolute (Jasminum grandiflora L.) and its Mode of Action on Guinea-pig Ileum In Vitro.
Phytother. Res., 2002; 16: 437-39.
Rossi M. Oli essenziali-schede tecniche. Erboristeria Domani, 1996; p: 40 (ref. 3390).
Websites:
Dr.Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases (www.ars-grin.gov/duke).
Grin Taxonomy (www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/index.pl)
ITIS Integrated Taxonomic Information System (www.itis.usda.gov).
National Agricultural Library / The NAL Catalog and Article Citation Database (www.nal.usda.gov/).
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