German Chamomile: The Scent of an Apple

German Chamomile, also known as Matricaria recutita, is a part of the Aster family (Asteraceae).  The way I grew up knowing her was by calling her Manzanilla, the little apple.  Why?  Because she was often described as her flower smelling like an apple, or the tea tasting like a green apple.  But what causes this flower to have the scent and smell of an apple?  
 
Upon studying the components of German Chamomile for a case study, my goal was to look for the therapeutic properties of the essential oil.  What I found was that one of the components of this magnificent flower is trans-B-farnesene.    Although I could not find the therapeutic properties connected to this acyclic sesquiterpene alkene, this component serves a different olfactory purpose.  
 
What was interesting is that trans-B-farnesene is also found in green apple and the scent of green apple.  The green apple and German Chamomile have the same scent because of trans-B-farnesene!  Sometimes, looking up components for their therapeutic properties may lead you to not finding one, but leading you to the connection she has to another fruit of a plant, like green apple.  
 
I love Nature, don’t you?  
 
Many Blessings,
 
Christina Grossman MA, CA, CH
www.sacredreminders.com 
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Resources: 
 
Ethan B. Russo, Jahan Marcu, in Advances in Pharmacology, 2017
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/beta-farnesene