Rosewood essential oil (bot. Aniba rosaeodora) has a velvety, rosy, and subtly woody scent and is a heart note. Its aromatic profile is balancing and calming. It is extracted from the wood of the plant via steam distillation.
As a sustainable and responsible aromatherapy company, we rarely recommend this particular rosewood oil due to the overharvesting of rosewood trees. Now, however, we are able to source the oil from a transparent supplier in Peru with a clear conscience.
In the Peruvian rainforest of the Amazon region, rosewood trees are cultivated in collaboration with local farmers who grow small plots of this endangered species on their own land. Founded in 2014 in Iquitos, a city in the northeastern Peruvian Amazon region, Raices Verdes was established with the goal of producing rosewood oil on existing farmland in the rainforest. Shortly after its founding, the first collaboration on rosewood distillation took place between PRIMAVERA and the newly established company in Peru, leading to the construction of a modern distillery.
Following a balanced agroforestry system, the rosewood plants are grown and cultivated alongside local food crops such as pineapple and cassava. Farmers are supported by being provided with the technical equipment and materials necessary for planting and maintaining the plantations over the years. To obtain high-quality essential oil, the trees must be at least 7 years old—the older, the better—and have developed the characteristic fragrance in their wood. Distillation is carried out using steam distillation of various plant parts, such as wood, branches, and roots. Different qualities are produced depending on the plant part used. PRIMAVERA sources its oil from branches with leaves and trunk wood.
Social security within the communities contributes to the protection of the Amazon region and the pristine rainforest. The collaboration between local farmers and Raices Verdes creates a fair and transparent way to produce and export the valuable rosewood oil.
