Just 1 kilogram of jasmine oil can cost over $5,000. For 1 kilogram of jasmine oil, 1 metric ton, or 1,000 kilograms, of flowers are needed.
It's a key ingredient in luxury perfumes. But to get 1 kilogram of some jasmine oil, 5,000 buds need to be plucked.
While India grows over 80 varieties of jasmine, jasmine grandiflorum and sambac are two of the most commercially valuable.
Jasmine Sambac, the most coveted of all jasmine flowers, thrives in Madurai, the jasmine capital of India.
Like any flower, jasmine produces a strong scent only after it blooms. But local sellers don't want jasmine flowers. They want the buds. That's because once the flower blooms, the scent only lasts a few days. The buds last longer, so they're easier to transport, whether it be for garlands or oil extraction.
Like several other white flowers, jasmine is rich in indole. Ironically, indole is found in feces too. In the case of feces, there's too much indole, so it produces an unpleasant smell.
But in limited amounts, it creates an appealing aroma, as it does with jasmine.
Jasmine sambac oil was rarely harvested before the launch of Dior's J'Adore fragrance. Before that, sambac was grown in India, but it was not really extracted. Today, jasmine-oil extracts travel from India all the way to Paris, where they will be used in many high-end fragrances, particularly at Guerlain.