Rose water

Rose water is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. Additionally, it is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume. It is used to flavour food, as a component in some cosmetic and medical preparations, and for religious purposes throughout Europe and Asia. Since ancient times, roses have been used medicinally, nutritionally, and as a source of perfume. The ancient Greeks, Romans and Phoenicians considered large public rose gardens to be as important as croplands such as orchards and wheat fields.Rose water has a very distinctive flavour and is used heavily in many Middle Eastern cuisines—especially in sweets such as nougat, gumdrops, and baklava. For example, rose water is used to give some types of Turkish delight (Rahat lokum) their distinctive flavours.Kashan, Qamsar, and Barzok are the main regions in Iran for making rose water.Depending on the origin and type of manufacturing method of rose water obtained from the sepals and petals of Rosa × damascena from Central Iran through steam distillation, the following monoterpenoid and alkane components could be identified with GC-MS: mostly citronellol, nonadecane, geraniol and phenyl ethyl alcohol, and also henicosane, 9-nonadecen, eicosane, linalool, citronellyl acetate, methyleugenol, heptadecane, pentadecane, docosane, nerol, disiloxane, octadecane, and pentacosane.Usually, phenylethyl alcohol is responsible for the typical odour of rose water but not always present in rose water products.