ALDEHYDE C14 / GAMMA UNDECALACTONE – fruity, lactonic and creamy note with a hint of ripe peach

CAS 104-67-6. One of the oldest peach notes in perfumery, it is actually not an aldehyde, but a lactone, despite the often incorrectly used name.
A very powerful material, also reminiscent of apricot, widely used in classic perfumery.
The commercial product is mainly composed of gamma-lactone, while usually minimal quantities of the necessary delta-lactone are present.
Practically colorless or pale yellow, slightly viscous liquid.
Practically insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol and oils, as well as in aqueous alkalis.
Sweet, fruity, and oily flavor, similar to peach, at a concentration of less than 20 parts per million. The effect at higher concentrations is not unpleasant, but it has a strong fruity note that supports other fruity notes that are certainly present at high lactone concentrations.
This substance is widely used, albeit in small quantities, in perfume compositions. In terms of frequency of use, it ranks very high among the materials found on perfumery shelves.
However, it is not the material usually sold in barrels. After the success of the new perfume (type) in the 1950s, the popularity of the main material increased further, when many perfumers began using it in extraordinarily large quantities, along with new chemicals free of musk nitrates, to partially reproduce the new note in successful perfumes.
It combines perfectly with nonalactone in gardenia and tuberose, as well as in many variations of lilac notes. It enhances the depth of orange blossom, which is often too sharp when using common materials, and is often found in jasmine compounds, etc. Concentrations much lower than 1% are effective, and sometimes adding 0.1 or 0.2% of this substance can ruin a perfume, just as a similar amount of undecalactone can double the floral sweetness and depth of another perfume.
This substance was originally used in violet perfumes, which were very popular at the time of this lactone's discovery (around 1900). But today it is more commonly used in flavorings, mainly to imitate peach, and also in many fruity varieties, often as a fixative for highly volatile fruit esters.
The normal concentration in ready-to-eat foods ranges from 3 to 12 parts per million, but in chewing gum it can reach up to 100 parts per million. As mentioned above, high concentrations require significant chemical "support" with strong-tasting substances surrounding the lactone, otherwise it will have a rather unpleasant and greasy taste. Vanillin, maltol, ethyl maltol, sweet orange oil, etc. can support the lactone and give it a pleasant flavor at high concentrations, while also taking advantage of the lactone's powerful aroma-boosting effect.
The name "Peach Aldehyde" is still widely used in the perfumery industry, which confuses the chemist who knows that this substance is not an aldehyde and does not have the typical disadvantages of aldehydes in compositions.
It was first used in Guerlain's Mitsouko in 1919, and was discovered in 1905.
It is stable in perfumery and functional bases.