Have you ever heard of the castor? It is a particular Oil and yellowish substance known since ancient times for his intense smell and characteristic, produced by perianal glands of the beaverpositioned near the anus. Even if his origin may seem unusual and perhaps disgusting, he had multiple uses throughout history, in medicinein cosmetics and also in perfumery! The Castoreo, in fact, is a set of molecules which give particular and different properties to the final product. For example, some phenolic compounds are responsible for its intense smell while others, such as salicylic aldehyde, of its medicinal properties. For these characteristics, its importance has been enormous: for over 2000 years, it has been used both as a drug for take care of different ailmentssuch as fever, gastric disorders and even mental disorders, and in perfumery as fixativea substance that prevents the quick evaporation of the perfume, guaranteeing persistence even after a long time.
The castor in nature is a means of communication
In nature, the castoror Castoreum, has a very precise function for the beavers: it is an effective communication and defense tool of the territory. Castori deposit this substance on piles of mud or on high surfaces, in order to report the presence of one’s family and delimit the border of their habitat.
Thanks to the high heaps, the substance remains damp over time, so from release continuously The smell, and remains protected by any raising of the surrounding water level. Aroma musky And Sweet of the pure castorum, unpleasant to human beings, covers a beavers a fundamental role for the recognition and cohesion of the group.
This marking It allows you to understand where the families of Castori live simply by perceiving their characteristic and intense aroma. It is therefore not surprising that nature has chosen to use a substance so complex chemically for such an essential task, such as persisting in the environment and transmitting clear and lasting information, in all weather conditions.
Chemical composition and uses of the Castoreo
From a chemical point of view, the castor is one complex mixture which contains over 75 different compoundsincluding phenols, fatty acids and more. You can imagine this substance as a “List of ingredients“In which every each of them contributes to the characteristic and persistent perfume. Among these, i phenolic compounds they are responsible for a part of the penetrating smell, while other compounds add therapeutic activities, such as thesalicylic aldehydeprobably responsible for the pain -relieving action for which it was used in the past.
One of its most common uses was that of fixative in perfumes, to ensure greater persistence. In the past, it has also been used for its cosmetic properties in creams and soapsbut also as an additional aroma in some kind of food or even in tobacco cigarettes.
Unfortunately, obtaining this substance provided for thereduction of the animal: After death, the glands were collected, dried and worked with alcohol to extract the essence. In fact, the sad custom of obtaining the Castoreo from the beaver brought to the edge of theextinction The species in the 16th century in Europe and the 19th century in America. Fortunately, today this practice is avoided, rather than obtaining the substance from the animal, for ethical issues it is preferred to summarize it in laboratory.
Today, although the Castoreo is no longer a common use ingredient In cosmetic industries, it continues to arouse interest both for its peculiar chemical properties and for its historical and natural role, remembering how much the ingenuity of nature can inspire human technologies and traditions. It remains, however, “costly” In all senses: if extracted from the beavers, expensive in terms of animal lives, if produced in the laboratory, expensive in terms of money and long procedures due to the chemical complexity of the Castoreo. However fascinating and particular this substance is, the modern industry prefers Alternative solutions that cannot suppress animal lives and do not require excessive laboratory effort.
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