The essential oil is good in perfumery for holding together citrus.
Known as marigold, the plant is a tall perennial with orange flowers. The flowers and some entire plants are steam distilled when fresh. It’s native to South America
Marigold
A Poem by Ghanshyam Chandra Gupta
This happened a long time ago when I was but a child
Or maybe it did not happen at all
Perhaps it occurred in my dream only a few days ago
Or maybe it lingers from a previous incarnation
It was a single marigold flower
(Or was it a sunflower perhaps?)
It emerged directly from the earth with a long stem
And I kissed it and touched its dampness to my eyes
Again, I think it was a marigold of thousand petals
With a characteristic rich fragrance
And it asked me to remember it
And I remembered as best as I could.
A Flower To Auroville Mother-46
Poem by Indira Renganathan
Marigold (Tagetes erecta)
Yellow and orange and bright
Updated yearly to new sight
O'Marigold, merry merry gold
Very very good so you uphold
How well you herd your florets
How well support pinnated leaves
Somewhere to wed somewhere to raise
Garlanded your glory to surprise
Overwhelmed when so much flashed
Still more as your curative splashed
O'Marigold, merry merry gold
Very very good so you uphold
Arctander
The essential oil is yellowish amber colored and mobile when freshly distilled but soon oxidizes and resinifies and becomes very viscous when exposed to air and moisture. Older oils are viscous, dark amber or brownish colored, and lack the typical fruity topnote. Fresh oils are characterized by a very powerful fruity top-note, reminiscent of green apples. The body notes are strongly herbaceous, somewhat sharp, like the non-floral part of the lavender fragrance. There is a vaguely bitter dry-out
Battaglia:
Clinical studies have found that tagetes may have anti-depressant like properties.
Also
Anti-fungal
Anti-microbial
Anti-oxidant
Larvicidal activity (against mosquitos)
Against plantar lesions (feet)
For aromatherapy, consider blending with myrrh, patchouli or tea tree.
For perfumery, florals such as jasmine or gardenia.
For aromatherapeutic uses, spot-topical applications are safer than as a general massage ingredient.
Tagetes is also used as a flavoring, mainly for tobacco and beverages. Apparently the extract is used in chicken feed to ensure yellow yolks.