Cadinene isomers are a family of related bicyclic sesquiterpene hydrocarbons rather than one single purified molecule. For the AromaForge archive, this record is best treated as an analytical grouping used in cade-type oil literature and supplier composition data, especially where public sources report combined cadinene percentages without separating every alpha, gamma, or delta isomer. The evidence base is therefore mixed by design: identity and biosynthetic literature are stronger than constituent-group safety or human-effect data, and biological findings often apply either to individual cadinene derivatives or to whole oils that contain cadinene-rich fractions.
Chemical identity and composition
Public references describe cadinene as the trivial name for a group of isomeric sesquiterpene hydrocarbons sharing the cadalane skeleton, with prominent alpha-, gamma-, and delta-cadinene members. A recent Canadian draft assessment for cade oil reported cadinene content at 14.5% to 19% and explicitly noted delta, gamma, and alpha isomers within that range. Because this AromaForge record is a grouped analytical bucket rather than one purified compound, no single CAS number is assigned here.
Aroma and practical use
- Use the recorded woody, dry, spicy, smoky 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 1996 Phytochemistry paper purified (+)-delta-cadinene synthase from bacteria-inoculated cotton foliar tissue and showed that it catalyzed the conversion of farnesyl diphosphate to (+)-delta-cadinene, providing direct mechanistic evidence for cadinene biosynthesis.
A 1996 Phytochemistry paper purified (+)-delta-cadinene synthase from bacteria-inoculated cotton foliar tissue and showed that it catalyzed the conversion of farnesyl diphosphate to (+)-delta-cadinene, providing direct mechanistic evidence for cadinene biosynthesis.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
A 1995 PNAS paper described delta-cadinene synthase as the first committed step in the cotton pathways leading to gossypol and lacinilene C, reinforcing cadinene's role in plant defense chemistry rather than in direct human-use evidence.
A 1995 PNAS paper described delta-cadinene synthase as the first committed step in the cotton pathways leading to gossypol and lacinilene C, reinforcing cadinene's role in plant defense chemistry rather than in direct human-use evidence.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
A 2013 antifungal paper isolated several oxidized cadinene sesquiterpenes from Eupatorium adenophorum and reported selective in vitro inhibition against phytopathogenic fungi, but those compounds were derivatives rather than the plain hydrocarbon cadinene-isomer mixture.
A 2013 antifungal paper isolated several oxidized cadinene sesquiterpenes from Eupatorium adenophorum and reported selective in vitro inhibition against phytopathogenic fungi, but those compounds were derivatives rather than the plain hydrocarbon cadinene-isomer mixture.
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.
Because this is a grouped isomer record, constituent-specific safety interpretation is inherently weaker than for a purified single molecule.
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.
No group-level IFRA restriction, human tolerability trial, or standalone dermal limit was verified for the mixed cadinene-isomer bucket in this pass.
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.
Any biological copy should avoid implying medical or wellness effects for cadinene isomers as a class, since the strongest located evidence is biosynthetic or preclinical.
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.
gamma-TerpineneAmplification 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 vitro · antioxidant
No source citation attached.
Read gamma-Terpinene report →How the effects were investigated
delta cadinene synthase branch point
Primary enzyme papers show that (+)-delta-cadinene synthase cyclizes farnesyl diphosphate to (+)-delta-cadinene and acts as a committed branch-point step in cotton cadinane sesquiterpenoid biosynthesis.
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)
- This grouped record does not map cleanly to one molecule or one CAS number.
- Most biological evidence is either for individual cadinene derivatives or for oils containing cadinene-rich fractions, not for a defined mixed-isomer standard.
- Human safety, dermal-limit, inhalation, and chronic toxicology data specific to the grouped cadinene-isomer bucket were not verified.
- A c6 verification search (2026-07-13) located a RIFM assessment for cadinene (CAS 29350-73-0: non-reactive DST 900 micrograms/cm2, insufficient toxicity data, in silico read-across), but since this record is a grouped multi-isomer bucket without one CAS, that single-CAS assessment was not applied here; the prior unsourced 25% dermal_limit_pct was corrected to null.
- 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.