Michelia champaca Linn (family Magnoliaceae) is a tall, evergreen
tree growing usually up to 30m in height [1]. It is native
to temperate Himalayan region; however, it is found distributed
throughout the subtropical and tropical countries such as India,
South China, Indonesia, The Philippines and some pacific islands
[2]. The tree blooms in monsoon (June–September) and in spring
(January–April) seasons. During the flowering period, the tree
is covered with thousands of golden yellow flowers with powerful
and diffusive fragrance. Most of the flowers are used for
ornamental purposes and for worship in temples. However, small
quantities are processed for its essential oil, concrete and absolute.
The general terms frequently used in fragrance chemistry [3] are
‘concrete and absolute’. ‘Concrete’ is concentrated form of floral
fragrance isolated in a hydrocarbon type solvent such as hexane or
pentane. In such a process, some unwanted waxy components and
fatty esters are also co-extracted. The concrete is of lower quality
due to the presence of the waxy components which cause prob-