Essential oils & personal care
Jasmine flower and absolute
Indonesia grows Jasminum sambac, melati, at scale, largely for scenting tea. The flowers open at night and release their scent then, so picking time and the hours between picking and use decide everything about the product.
How it leaves the country.
- Fresh flowers
- For tea scenting, used within hours. A domestic trade rather than an export one, because the clock is too short.
- Dried flowers
- For tea blends and infusion, where the visible flower is part of the product. Much of the aroma is lost in drying.
- Concrete and absolute
- Solvent extracted, then refined. The perfumery product, extremely concentrated and priced accordingly.
- Scented tea
- Green tea scented with jasmine in Indonesia and exported as finished tea. A different purchase with its own specification.
How it is graded.
For extract, a chemical purchase judged by chromatography. For dried flower, a visual and aromatic one. The two share almost nothing except the plant.
- Species
- Jasminum sambac is the Indonesian melati used for tea. Jasminum grandiflorum is a different species used in perfumery, and offers sometimes blur them.
- Picking time
- Flowers picked at the wrong hour carry much less scent. It is upstream of any processing and it cannot be corrected.
- Absolute composition
- Chromatography against a retained sample. Jasmine absolute is expensive enough that adulteration with synthetics is a real risk.
- Dried flower colour
- Creamy white going brown with heat and age. Browning is the visible sign of poor drying.
- Moisture
- Dried flowers reabsorb moisture and mould. It is the most common arrival failure for the dried form.
- Pesticide residues
- Grown intensively in some areas. Residue testing on the shipped lot is worth doing, particularly for anything infused.
How it is packed.
- Absolute in small lined containers
- High value, small volume, and it darkens with light and heat. Full containers with minimal headspace.
- Dried flowers in lined cartons
- Fragile and bulky. Compression destroys the whole flowers that buyers are paying for.
- Aroma transfer
- Strongly scented material flavours other cargo. Do not consolidate with neutral goods.
- Heat and light
- Both degrade the aroma in every form. Stow away from the container walls and the door.
Where it grows.
Central Java
Java
The main melati growing area, tied to the tea scenting industry.
West Java
Java
Cultivation with processing and extraction capability closer to Jakarta.
East Java
Java
Growing areas supplying both the domestic flower trade and processors.
Documentation, where applicable.
- Phytosanitary certificate
- For dried flowers as a plant product, where the destination requires it.1
- Certificate of analysis
- For absolute, full chromatography. For dried flower, moisture, microbiology and residues on the shipped lot.
- Safety data sheet
- For extracts, where the solvent history and the classification affect handling and transport.
- Certificate of origin
- Which form applies depends on the destination and the preference scheme in force with Indonesia.
Questions buyers ask.
Why are the flowers picked at night?
Because Jasminum sambac opens and releases its scent after dark. Flowers picked in daylight carry far less aroma, and nothing downstream recovers it.
Is Indonesian jasmine absolute the same as Indian or Egyptian?
Frequently a different species, and the composition and character differ. Specify the botanical species and judge it against a sample rather than against the country name.
Can I buy jasmine scented tea rather than flowers?
Yes, and it is often the more practical purchase, since the scenting has to happen within hours of picking. Buying the finished tea moves that problem to the producer.
What does your service cost?
Five per cent of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory. A factory audit starts at $250 depending on location. We work with orders from $10,000 per shipment.
Tell us what you need.
Give us the specification and the destination port. We come back with producer options and an indicative price. Our fee is 5 % of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory.
Sources
- 1Badan Karantina Indonesia, the national quarantine agency. Republic of Indonesia. Checked 3 August 2026.