Microbes at work in perfumery: the microbial community of vetiver root and its involvement in essential oil biogenesis †

It is cultivated for its unique ability among grasses to produce in the root an essential oil, a complex mixture of sesquiterpene alcohols and hydrocarbons, which are mostly used as a basic material for perfumery and cosmetics. Because of this complexity, the oil is diffi cult to reproduce with synthetic aromatic chemical formulations. Moreover, diff erences in the quality of the oil may depend on genetic, environmental and technological factors.