Leptactina senegambica Hook.f. - Rubiaceae - **karo-karoundé**, karo karounde

Shrub, native to West Africa (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali); flowers white, scented. The scent has been described as somewhat similar to jasmine, but woodier, spicier and more herbal. The [[http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/ab1045711.html|absolute]] is used in perfumery for white flower notes and heavy floral blends.

The concrete of the flowers contained benzyl cyanide (phenylacetonitrile; 38%) and isoeugenol. \\
[Sabetay, S., L. Palfray, and L. Trabaud. "Sur la présence de cyanure de benzyle dans l'essence concrète de Karo Karoundé. C, r. hebd." Séanc. Acad. Sci., Paris 207 (1938): 540-542]

| {{:isoeugenol.jpg| isoeugenol}} \\ isoeugenol |{{:nitrophenylethan.jpg| 1-nitro-2-phenylethane }} \\ 2-phenylnitroethane | 

"Hexane extraction of the flowers of Karo-Karounde (Leptactinia senegambica) harvested in Guinea gave a 0.15% yield of an orange-brown waxy concrete which, upon treatment with ethanol using the conventional method, gave a 60% absolute... Among the major constituents were those which were already known such as benzyl cyanide and isoeugenol which represent 4.75% and 0.45% respectively in the absolute, as determined by capillary GC by the internal standard method (int.standard: n-dodecan). Benzyl cyanide was thus the major volatile constituent of the absolute." \\
Among the >200 other components were e.g. estragole, anethole, benzyl alcohol, phenylethanol, linalool, α-terpineol, lilac alcohols (3 isomers), acetophenone, several aliphatic aldehydes (hexanal, octanal, nonanal) and aromatic aldehydes (benzaldehyde, phenylacetaldehyde, lilac aldehydes, anisaldehyde, vanillin, cinnamal), Z-jasmone, α-ionone, β-ionone, several phenolic compounds like eugenol and ioseugenol, and many esters including cyclic ones like γ-nonalactone and δ-decalactone. 2-Phenylnitroethane was present at 2.55% (GC) or 1.1% (int.standard method) in the absolute. \\
[Joulain, D., and R. Laurent. "The absolute from Karo-Karounde flowers." (1988): 607-625] 

{{:leptactina_sene.jpg?700|}} \\
Leptactina senegambica, Kindia, Guinea (2023) © Eric Gren [[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/|CC BY-SA 4.0]] [[https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=1276752|inaturalist.org]]