CONSTITUENT REPORT
delta-Cadinene
delta-Cadinene is a cadinane sesquiterpene hydrocarbon found across woody, tea-tree, copaiba, St. John's wort, and coniferous oils in the AromaForge archive. The direct evidence base is strongest for identity, occurrence, and biosynthesis rather than for standalone human-use pharmacology: classic enzyme papers establish delta-cadinene as a plant defense pathway intermediate in cotton, while mixture-level essential-oil studies place it in antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory test systems without proving that isolated delta-cadinene is the active agent. Archive framing should therefore stay chemistry-forward and explicit about the gap between biosynthetic importance and clinical relevance.
Chemical identity and composition
PubChem resolves delta-cadinene to CID 441005 with formula C15H24 and a cadinane sesquiterpene structure. Synonym data support the common cadina-1(10),4-diene naming and CAS 483-76-1. Within AromaForge oils, delta-cadinene reaches especially high levels in Port Orford cedarwood heartwood oil, and it also appears repeatedly in anthopogon, St. John's wort leaf oil, tea tree, hinoki, copaiba balsam, and other sesquiterpene-rich records.
Aroma and practical use
- Use the recorded woody, dry, spicy, resinous, resin descriptors to explore a blend's scent character; perceived strength also depends on the other ingredients.
- Read the route, preparation and experimental context before using a study finding to choose an oil.
Reported benefits and effects
Findings retain their study context. An animal or laboratory result describes that experiment.
A 1995 Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics paper cloned and expressed (+)-delta-cadinene synthase, confirmed its product as (+)-delta-cadinene by GC-MS, chiral GC, and NMR, and described the enzyme as the first committed step in cotton phytoalexin biosynthesis.
A 1995 Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics paper cloned and expressed (+)-delta-cadinene synthase, confirmed its product as (+)-delta-cadinene by GC-MS, chiral GC, and NMR, and described the enzyme as the first committed step in cotton phytoalexin biosynthesis.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
A 1996 Phytochemistry paper purified a cotton sesquiterpene cyclase induced in bacteria-inoculated foliar tissue and showed that it catalyzed conversion of farnesyl diphosphate to (+)-delta-cadinene.
A 1996 Phytochemistry paper purified a cotton sesquiterpene cyclase induced in bacteria-inoculated foliar tissue and showed that it catalyzed conversion of farnesyl diphosphate to (+)-delta-cadinene.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
A 2010 Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology study reported that Kadsura longipedunculata stem-bark oil containing delta-cadinene at 21.79% showed antimicrobial, moderate anti-inflammatory, and trypanocidal activity, but the oil rather than isolated delta-cadinene was the tested article.
A 2010 Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology study reported that Kadsura longipedunculata stem-bark oil containing delta-cadinene at 21.79% showed antimicrobial, moderate anti-inflammatory, and trypanocidal activity, but the oil rather than isolated delta-cadinene was the tested article.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
Use concerns and concentration limits
Sensitization concernNot flagged
Not flagged in the current model. This is not proof of absence or unrestricted safety.
Phototoxicity concernNot flagged
Not flagged in the current model. This is not proof of absence or unrestricted safety.
Oxidation concernNot flagged
Not flagged in the current model. This is not proof of absence or unrestricted safety.
Penetration enhancementNot flagged
Not flagged in the current model. This is not proof of absence or unrestricted safety.
No numeric constituent-specific use limit is available here. Missing is not an unrestricted-use clearance.
No constituent-specific IFRA restriction, dermal limit, or dedicated human tolerability study for isolated delta-cadinene was verified in the reviewed public sources.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
Because the most direct literature centers on biosynthesis and mixture-level oil studies, archive copy should avoid positioning isolated delta-cadinene as a validated antimicrobial or anti-inflammatory active.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
Constituents it may interact with
These are research candidates recorded in the interaction matrix. They do not add a proven-amplification bonus to the score.
EugenolAmplification candidate
Candidate in the research matrix. A coefficient alone does not establish amplification at the dose, route or goal of your blend; no proven amplification is inferred from this row.
in vivo nonhuman · whole_oil
No source citation attached.
Read Eugenol report →How the effects were investigated
first committed step in cotton phytoalexin pathway
A 1995 enzyme-characterization paper identified (+)-delta-cadinene synthase as the catalyst that cyclizes farnesyl diphosphate to (+)-delta-cadinene and described it as the first committed step toward gossypol and lacinilene C biosynthesis in cotton.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
elicitor induced plant defense metabolism
A 1996 purification paper and related cotton literature show delta-cadinene synthase induction after pathogen challenge, reinforcing delta-cadinene's role as a plant-defense intermediate rather than a human therapeutic mechanism.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
What this report cannot establish
- A reported constituent percentage does not establish an effective human therapeutic dose or the amount absorbed into the body.
- The presence of a constituent does not guarantee a clinical benefit, rash treatment or sleep improvement from a custom blend.
- An unflagged concern or missing use limit does not establish safety for ingestion, inhalation, skin exposure or a particular person.
- A candidate constituent interaction does not establish that two oils amplify one another at the selected proportions.
- Constituent descriptors alone do not establish a precise top, heart or base lifetime in a finished blend.
Known data gaps (7)
- The direct constituent literature is dominated by biosynthetic plant-enzyme work rather than isolated human pharmacology or toxicology.
- Most activity-oriented studies found in this pass used whole oils that contain delta-cadinene instead of the purified constituent.
- Constituent-specific sensitization, inhalation, reproductive, and long-term safety data were not verified from readable public sources.
- Worker c8 search (2026-07-13): no IFRA Standard or RIFM safety assessment specific to delta-cadinene (CAS 483-76-1) located; only identity/GC data sources (TheGoodScentsCompany) found. Prior dermal_limit_pct:25 and sensitizing:true were unsupported placeholders and have been corrected to null/false.
- No constituent-specific numeric dermal reference is available here.
- Some findings do not record an explicit exposure route; consult the linked study before applying them to a use.
- Interaction candidates lack an attached source citation and remain unqualified.