WHAT IS AMBREGRIS ?

Ambra, also called Ambregris or Ambergris, is a substance of animal tissue, formed in the stomach or intestine of Physeter Catodon, the cachalot whale. It is conceivable that Ambra is the result of a pathological condition caused by irritation of the whale’s stomach walls due to certain indigestible particles in the whale’s food. Consequently, Ambra is one of the few natural perfumery raw materials which cannot be “cultivated”, not even in the same way that pearls, for example, are cultivated (S. Arctander, 1961).

Ambergris is a metabolic product of the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus L.) that accumulates as concretions in the gut of the animal. It is still not known exactly how it is formed (Dubois, 1978). When the con­cretion leaves the body of the animal, the diameter is seldom more than 20 cm (Dubois, 1978). The largest piece so far recorded weighed 400 kg, however, and was recovered from a sperm whale that had been killed (Clarke, 1954). As a result of the action of sunlight and floating in waves containing oxygen, often for decades, the ambergris undergoes an aging process, during which the strong stercoraceous indole, fecal note, recalling dead fish, dis­appears (Wériguine, 1966). A t the same time as the change in quality, the dark color fades and the waxy consistency disappears. The finest and most valuable ambergris ("gray amber") is pale gray to golden yellow, or in very rare cases, chalky white. It possesses a complex yet balanced fragrance that is composed of a series of notes and subnotes that combine in the best examples to give a harmonious character. A typically marine odor, perceived only in the open ocean and not along the coasts (Anonymous, 1937), accompanied by a violet tone occurring in algae (Wériguine, 1966), is just as perceptible as the scent of damp, moss-covered ground in a forest (Morrison, 1929) but without a musty effect (Janistyn, 1956). A precious fragrance of exotic wood and an incense-like tonality, such as is found in ancient cathedrals (Cornon, 1955), have been identified, as well as a fine smell of tobacco (Anonymous, 1937; Wériguine, 1966). It is said that in yellow pieces, one can often detect a weak tea note (Dubois, 1978). The warm animal (Janistyn, 1955) musky note (Arndt, 1940) is supposed to be the most important effect exerted (Anony­mous, 1937). In aged ambergris, the fecal note lingers only faintly (Ohloff, 1969), where it recalls the impression of faded flowers. 

The ambergris is an initially waxy, soft mass in the intestine of the sperm whale, which it forms after mechanical injury by the horn jaws of squid (Sepia officinalis) and squid (Teuthida), its preferred food. The ambergris serves as an antibiotic wound closure in which the indigestible suture components are embedded. The concretions enter the sea through vomiting, as fecal stones or through the natural death of the animals. Weighing between a few grams and 100 kg, the almost black lumps, which initially smell of feces, float on the sea surface due to their low density of 0.78-0.93 g/cm3 and are transformed by photochemical degradation and oxidation into the highly prized perfumery raw material.

The lumps, which are initially almost black in color, float on the sea surface due to their low density and are transformed by photo-chemical degradation and oxidation over the course of years and decades into the highly prized perfumery raw material before the stone-like, light gray, fragrant amber pieces are salvaged by fishing boats or washed up on the beach. The scent ranges from woody, dry, balsamic, somewhat tobacco-like to bouquet-like with an aphrodisiac touch. Ambergris is found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, on the coasts of Brazil, Africa, Madagascar, the Maldives, China, Japan, New Zealand and the Caribbean. 

Among the most valuable animal perfumes like civet, musk and castoreum, ambergris fills a niche of its own. In all the great civilizations and long before the Christian era, men were familiar with this material. First used for ceremonial and religious purposes, ambergris soon contributed to the quality of life of nobles in every age on account of its outstanding fragrance and the mysterious effect of its odor. The first report of the use of ambergris in perfumery comes from Muslim Spain. According to Abu'l Kasim Obaid-allah (d.912), the raw material came from the Malay Archipelago (Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, 1966). In Asia, besides being used as a drug, it was also employed until recently as a spice for food and wines (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1964). There were reports of Arab seamen bringing ambergris to Europe as early as the ninth century (Cornon, 1955). At first the material came from North Africa, then later from the Near and Far East as well as from India. The beaches of the Bahamas and other islands in tropical seas were said to be especially productive collecting grounds. The best pieces collected by the inhabitants often disappeared into the vaults of local rulers, since emirs, sultans, and maharajas valued the material for its reputed aphrodisiac properties (Cornon, 1955). Because of its restorative properties, ambergris enjoyed great popularity in Medieval Europe too, and remained in the principal pharmacopoeias until the end of the last century. Ambergris played a prominent role as the dominant ingredient in high-class French perfumery, particularly at the beginning of this century (Wériguine, 1966). 

Pieces of Ambra are either washed ashore on various temperate ocean coasts and islands, or they are found inside the whales when these great mammals are captured for their oil (spermaceti oil). There is no particular area where Ambra can be found or searched for with regular success. The “big” finds in the history of Ambra are those of New Zealand, East India, West Africa (near Dakar), Southwest Africa, Madagascar, Indonesia, Brazil, Norway, etc. Actually, all the seashores of the seven seas can boast Ambra finds, and all the seas have brought Ambra to the whaling ships at one time or another. There is ample literature in scientific and popular periodicals and even in newspapers about individual finds from time to time. One of the truest things ever said about Ambra, to quote from Ed Sagarin’s “The Science and Art of Perfumery”, is: “... of all the animal perfume products, none is better known to the public, none less used by the perfumer” (about Ambra) (S. Arctander, 1961).

The History of ambregris

Ambergris was already a sought-after fragrance and valuable commodity in ancient times. The Egyptians burned it as an op- fergift, and in the Arabian cultural area the fragrance was just as well known as in the coastal regions of the Indian Ocean.

Mixed with wine, it was considered an aphrodisiac, used to ward off the plague and as a medicine to treat headaches, colds, epilepsy and other illnesses. Louis XV of France is said to have spiced his favorite dishes with ambergris, and Elizabeth I of France was said to have used ambergris as a spice.

England perfumed their gloves with it. In Egypt, ambergris is still used today to flavor cigarettes.

The first evidence of the use of ambergris in fine perfumery comes from the Arabs in Spain in the 10th century. For this purpose, ambergris was already imported from the Sunda Islands and the Maghreb. At the beginning of the modern era, ambergris was traded throughout Europe and in many cases was weighed out with gold. Al-Hasan ibn Mohammed al-Wassan (called: Johannes Leo Africanus; * around 1490 in Granada, † after 1550 in Tunis) wrote that the price of one pound of ambergris on the market in Fez was 60 du- cats, which corresponded to that of three slaves.

There was uncertainty about the origin of ambergris for a long time. The Chinese called them "lung sien hiang" and imagined dragons sleeping on coastal rocks and drooling into the sea while they slept. The saliva, they believed, was the source of the fragrance. In the Japanese cultural area, on the other hand, they spoke of "kunsurano fuu", of walkot. The Arab traveler and historian Al-Mas'udi († 957 in al-Fustat, Egypt) reported of merchants and sailors who believed that ambergris grew like mushrooms on the seabed and was occasionally washed ashore by storms. Marco Polo (1254-1324) was the first Western traveler to report that the sperm whale of ambergris was hunted by Yemeni sailors off Socotra Island.

Certainty about the origin of ambergris, however, was only achieved when, with the flourishing of the American whaling industry in Nantucket (Massachusetts) in the 18th century, sperm whales were shot again and again, and lumps of ambergris were found in their intestines.

In terms of cultural history and etymology, ambergris has often been confused with amber (true, yellow or Prussian amber, Latin succinum, Greek electron). Ambra or amber is also the English and old German name for amber. To distinguish between the two, the English word ambergris is used today for the excretory product of sperm whales, which is derived from the French ambre gris and ultimately from the Arabic word an-bar.

AMBREGRIS CHEMISTRY

Ambergris essentially consists of the triterpene alcohol ambreine, together with a series of sterols of the cholestanol type (Janistyn, 1941; Lederer, 1949, 1950). The ratio of the two groups of terpenes apparently determines the quality of the material. Thus, the best samples contain up to 80% of ambreine, while black amber is found to contain 46% of the sterol derivatives (Korzh and Strigina, 1972). A recent sample of average quality yielded 30% pure alcohol in the soluble fraction (Ohloff and Vial, 1977). The size of the steam-volatile fraction, in which the odor­iferous principles of ambergris are concentrated, can vary by a factor of 5 (Stoll, 1959) depending on the quality and can reach 0.3 % in good samples (Ruzicka et al, 1948b). 

AMBREGRIS USE

Ambergris is usually used in perfumery in the form of a 2.5% infusion in pure (96%) alcohol (Anonymous, 1937). It has to mature for 1 to 3 years, during which time the full and balanced fragrance is developed (Cornon, 1955). In the form of tincture, it homogenizes and exalts most perfume oils, lending them warmth and life as few other scent principles can. Moreover, it is said to have an efficacious fixative capacity, and in tenacity it greatly surpasses a Tonkin musk tincture of the same strength (Janistyn, 1956). The odorless fraction of ambergris is responsible for its fixative effect (Stoll, 1959; Dubois, 1978). It is noteworthy that the belief in the powerful effects of a psychological nature on human beings and especially in its aphrodisiac properties is still held today (Arndt, 1940; Cornon, 1955; Wériguine, 1966; Moncrieff, 1970; Schweisheimer, 1972; Jellinek, 1973). 

Ambergris is disappearing from the world market. Excessive hunting of the sperm whale in the past has more than decimated the population. In addition, the continued increase in the pollution of coasts makes it more difficult to find prime-quality material that is more and more rarely washed ashore. Because of the reduced catch, even black amber is becoming extremely rare. In future, the perfume industry must therefore meet its needs for the natural product with a synthetic equivalent. We attempt in the following review to explain how far our knowledge in the domain of the chemistry of ambergris odorants has now developed 

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Sources and Informations:

• GÜNTHER OHLOFF, The Fragrance of Ambergris, Editor(s): ERNST T. THEIMER, Fragrance Chemistry, Academic Press, 1982, Pages 535-573, ISBN 9780126858501, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-685850-1.50020-6

• Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, S. Arctander (1961)

• Den Stoffwechsel- oder Verdauungsstörungen des größten noch lebenden Säugetiers, dem Pottwal, verdanken wir einen der wertvollsten Duftstoffe der Feinparfümerie: die graue Ambra