All about Rosa Damascena
” Rosa Damascena” flower is a kind of roses. There are about 250 species of roses in the whole world. The origin of Rosa damascene was found in Iran for the first time which they called “Gol-Mohammadi”. The flower was then imported to other countries via Damascus and then cultivated in other countries. That is why in English it is called Damask rose.
Iran is active in the field of Exporting bulk dried rose buds of Rosa Damascena, and among the cities that can be called the birthplace of roses, we should mention Shiraz and Kashan. Rose buds on the market are usually sold in bulk and the type of Darab Shiraz is especially popular among rose fans. At the present time, this plant is cultivated in Iran (especially in FARS province) for preparing rose water and essential oil.
Nowadays, different commercial products are produced from this flowers. They are including:
1. ROSE ESSENTIAL OIL
Rose essential oil or liquid gold is expensive yellow pale essential oil that is extracted by different commercial methods and is used in cosmetics industry.
It is a volatile oil obtained by distillation of the fresh flowers of R. damascena. The oil is prepared in copper alembic stills by the peasant or in large factories under careful scientific control. Some 3000 parts of flowers yields only one part of oil. The oil is very expensive and very liable to adulteration. The oil is, pale, yellow, and semisolid. The portion which is solid at ordinary temperatures forms about 15-20% and consists of odourless stearoptene containing principally saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons (C14-C23 normal paraffins) . Because of the low oil content in R. damascena and the lack of natural and synthetic substitutes, essential rose oil is one of the most expensive ones in the world markets
2. Rose water
Rose water or colorless liquid water with common name Golab (in Iran) due to its calming and relaxing properties is used in religious ceremonies like washing the God House in Mecca (Saudi Arabia) and also for flavoring the foods in Iran.
It is an abundant product of R. damascena in which contains 10-50% rose oil. The most usage of Rose water is in religious ceremonies. It is used in mosques especially at mourning ceremonies, to calm and relax people. The highest quality rose water is produced in Kashan. Kaaba (God House) in , is washed yearly by unique and special rose water of Kashan. Rose water is also of high value in the food industry and some special foods are prepared using this product
3. Dried flowers
The dried buds and petals of rose are sold in groceries as flavor. dried flowers are used as flavoring in tea or even food.
Two kinds of dried flowers are produced in . A) Dried bud which is mostly for export. B) Dried petals for different purposes; its major use is for eating, as it can solve problems with digestive system. Some Iranians eat it with yogurt. Another reason for drying petals is to store them when distilleries cannot accept the whole produced flower anymore. They use them later for distillation
Rosa damascene is rich in vitamin A, E and C, which are powerful antioxidants with medical properties of the flower that have tremendous benefits for the body. In addition to these vitamins, Rosa damascene contains selenium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium, all of which strengthen the body’s immune system and prevent diseases from overcoming the body. This fragrant flower has many medicinal properties and because of its mild nature, it is suitable for cold-tempered and hot-
tempered people and will not interfere with other foods.
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