CIVET

PRESENTATION
 CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CIVET
SOURCE & ITS SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
AFRICAN CIVETS THEIR HABITAT & THEIR PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

CIVET EXTRACTION (CIVET OIL)

CIVETONE
SYNTHETIC CIVETONE AND ITS METHODS OF PREPARATION
CIVET COFFEE
GENERAL AND THERAPEUTIC USES OF CIVET
REFERENCES
 INTRODUCTION

A yellowish unctuous glandular secretions

appearing in an outwardly discharging pocket
underneath the posterior appendage of both male
and female civet cats.
It has a strong musk like odor.
 CIVET

A civet is a small mostly nocturnal mammal.

The term civet applies to over a dozen different mammal
species.
The name is derived from Arabic zabad or sinnawr al-
zabad, civet cat (Viverra civetta) by way of old Italian
zibetto and middle french civette.
 SOURCE

Civet is obtained from the perineal follicles of African

or Indian civet cats. Viverra spp.
A number of species of civet, Civettictis civetta of
Ethiopia, and Viverra zibetha and Viverricula indica of
India, Malaya, Indochina and Indonesia can yield civet
oil.
SCIE N TI FIC CL ASSI FICATI ON

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Civettictis civetta

KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Carnivora
FAMILY: Viverridae
 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Civets have a broadly cat-like general appearance

though the mouzle is extended and often pointed , rather
like that of an otter or mongoose.
The civet produce a musk often called as civet highly
valued as for fragrance and stabilizing factor for
perfumes.
AFRICAN CIVET
 HABITAT

It is native to
Tropical Asia
Africa
Madagascar
Southern china
Iberian Peninsula
P H Y S I CA L C H A R A C T E RI S T I CS

LIFESPAN:
15-20 years (African civet)
HEIGHT: 40 cm (African civet, adult, at shoulders)
MASS: 12 kg
LENGTH: 67-84 cm (african civet, adult without tail head
and body)
S P E C I E S N AT I V E T O S O U T H E A S T A S I A

The Asian palm civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus

also called toddy cat, is a small member of the Viverridae
family native to South and Southeast Asia.
Despite its species name hermaphroditus the civets like
all other mammals have two distinct sexes and are not
hermaphrodites.
ASIAN PALM CIVET
Terrestrial civets (Viverridae), including have perineal scent
glands, which secrete a fluid used for different purposes.
This fluid is called ‘civet’.
It has a musk like odor.
The scent, when the gland is rubbed on natural surfaces like
those of trees and rocks, is recognized by conspecifics.
CIVET EXTRACTION

CIVET OIL
 CIVET OIL

A number of species of civet can yield civet oil.

The civets are not harmed during the process of extraction.
Most civet is however produced by civet farms in Africa, where the
secreted oil is taken from pouches of caged animals once a week.
African civets produce 3-4 grams of civet each week.
In the year 2000 civet sold for about five hundred dollars per
kilogram.
 PROPERTIES OF CIVET OIL

Civet oil is a soft almost liquid material.

It is pale yellow when fresh, but darkens in the light.
Its odor is strong even putrid as a pure substance, but once
diluted it is pleasantly and sweetly aromatic.
It is prepared for use in perfumery by solvent extraction.
Civet oil is a foul smelling scent produced by the
perineal glands of the male civet cat, this is because
males produce large quantity and better quality
civetone (a cyclic ketone closely related to muskone
but having a closed chain of 17 carbon atoms) than
females.
CIVET OIL
 CIVETONE

& ITS COLLECTION

 CIVETONE
It is a cyclic ketone closely related to muskone but having a closed chain of 17 carbon atoms.
It is a macro cyclic ketone and the main odorous constituent of civet.
It is a pheromone sourced from the African Civet.
It has a strong musky odor that becomes pleasant at extreme dilutions.
Today, civetone can be synthesized from precursor chemical found in palm oil.
It is the chemical in civet oil that gives most of the distinctive odor to the civet oil. It is
present in civet oil at the concentration between 2.5-3.4 percent.
Civet is collected from the captive individuals, and later refined into a compound, civetone,
used as a fixative in the perfume industry.
 PROPERTIES OF CIVETONE

Chemical Formula: C17H3o0

Molar mass: 250.4195
Appearance: crystalline solid
Density: 0.917 at 33 degree Celsius
Melting point: 31-32 degree Celsius
Boiling point: 342 degree Celsius
Solubility in oils: Soluble
Solubility in ethanol: soluble
Solubility in water: Slightly soluble
CHEMICAL STRUCTURE
 SYNTHETIC PREPARATION

The high demand and short supply of civetone and of muskone, a secretion of the musk
deer which is also a valuable perfume base, has encouraged attempts to prepare synthetic
products which may be substituted for natural civetone and muskone.
Thus, Blomquist and coworkers (1955) synthesized cyclic mono ketones which
possessed strong musk odors.
It is prepared by the oxidation of civetol, another constituent of civet oil.
It is also prepared by pyrolysis of the thorium salt of 9-octadecane-1,18-dioic acid or the
yttrium salt of the same acid, but this method is prohibited because the availability and the
yields are rather low.
 METHODS OF
PREPARATION

1- HUNSDIECKER METHOD
2- BLOMQUIST METHOD
 HUNSDIECKER METHOD

Hunsdiecker (1944) has prepared civetone by a rather

long series of reactions from aleuritic acid, a constituent of
shellac.
However, the number of reactions required and the
necessity for isolation of the starting material from natural
sources make this process commercially unattractive.
 BLOMQUIST METHOD

Blomquist have prepared civetone analogs by partial

reduction of macro cyclic diketones, followed by
dehydration.
This process apparently gives a mixture of cis and trans
isomers (judging from the reported melting point of the
product), rather than pure cis or trans material.
 CIVET COFFEE (KOPI
LUWAK)

Kopi Luwak, or civet coffee, refers to the

coffee that includes part-digested coffee
cherries eaten and defecated by the Asian
palm civet.
 PRODUCTION MECHANISM OF KOPI
L U WA K

Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two
mechanisms i.e. Selection and Digestion.
Selection occurs if the civets choose to eat cherries.
Digestive mechanisms may improve the flavor profile of the coffee beans that have been eaten.
The civet eats the cherries for the fleshy pulp, then in the digestive tract, fermentation occurs.
The civet’s protease enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino
acid. Passing through a civet’s intestines the cherries are then defecated with other fecal material
and collected
Although it is one of the most expensive coffees in the world with retail prices reaching the
price of Black Ivory Coffee.
 USES

The musk produced by a gland at the base of the civet’s tail- also called civet oil.

It is widely used as a perfume ingredient in North America and Europe.

Pure civet has a very strong, disagreeable odor.

The scent is said to be similar to musk, but with a more smoky, sweaty aroma.

It is also an excellent fixative and flavor.

It is used as a stabilizer in top-quality perfumes.

Some perfumes for women that features civet in their composition include:

1. Chanel No. 5

2. Calvin Klein Obsession

3. Joop!

4. Femme
CIVET HAIR GROWTH OIL

Civet hair growth oil is an invention in hair growing treatment.

It is used on hair like hair oil.
It consists of three liquids.
Civet gold hair oil is extracted from valuable seeds and raw herbs
without heating any ingredient.
It has no side effects.
It prevents hair fall and initiates growth of new hair within month.
THERAPEUTIC USES OF CIVET OIL

The civet oil has a world-wide reputation of being an amazing fragrant oil as it
is undoubtedly a part of the richest and priciest fragrance brands of the world.
But in spite of being famous for its fragrance it also has medicinal and
therapeutic qualities which includes:
1. Reduction of perspiration.
2. A cure for some skin disorders.
3. Claims of aphrodisiac powers.
References:
Trease and Evans Pharmacognosy by Evans,
W.C
Textbook of Pharmacognosy by Mohammad
Ali
THANK YOU