Cedrol is one of the best-documented cedarwood sesquiterpene alcohols in the AromaForge archive and a major marker of Juniperus-derived cedarwood oils. Compared with cedrene and cedrenol, its source base is materially stronger: public studies include human inhalation work on autonomic measures, rodent inhalation studies, and newer preclinical research on metabolism and immune signaling. Even so, most benefit-facing findings remain early-stage or model-specific, so the archive should frame cedrol as a cedarwood marker with notable preclinical and limited human physiology data rather than as an established medical ingredient.
Chemical identity and composition
PubChem resolves cedrol to CID 65575 with formula C15H26O and treats alpha-Cedrol as a synonym. In the local archive, cedrol is a major constituent of Virginian cedarwood profiles at about 22.86-23.02% and is also present in Chinese cedarwood at 7.6%, supporting its role as a key oxygenated marker in Juniperus and related cedarwood oils.
Aroma and practical use
- Use the recorded cedarwood, woody, dry, soft, cedar-like descriptors to explore a blend's scent character; perceived strength also depends on the other ingredients.
- Compare the recorded goal signals with the intended purpose, while keeping model assumptions separate from observed study outcomes.
- Review the flagged use concerns across every contributing oil and the selected dilution.
- 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.
human autonomic shift
A 2003 human inhalation study reported that cedrol exposure decreased heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and respiratory rate while increasing baroreceptor sensitivity and parasympathetic HRV indices.
Measured: heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, baroreceptor sensitivity, heart-rate variability
Apply this finding only to the studied preparation, participants, route and outcome. It does not establish the same result for a custom oil blend.
cross country human pupil response
A 2007 multicountry clinical study reported that the miosis rate increased after cedrol exposure in all three countries, which the authors interpreted as a shift toward parasympathetic dominance despite different living environments.
Measured: pupillary light reflex miosis rate before and after cedrol inhalation
Apply this finding only to the studied preparation, participants, route and outcome. It does not establish the same result for a custom oil blend.
lower airway autonomic response
A 2008 study in laryngectomized subjects reported decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure, increased baroreceptor sensitivity, reduced sympathetic variability markers, and increased parasympathetic HRV during direct lower-airway cedrol inhalation.
Measured: blood pressure variability, heart-rate variability, baroreceptor sensitivity
Apply this finding only to the studied preparation, participants, route and outcome. It does not establish the same result for a custom oil blend.
rodent sedative model
A 2003 rodent inhalation paper reported that cedrol decreased spontaneous motor activity across several models and prolonged pentobarbital-induced sleep time, with the sleep effect persisting after experimental reduction of olfactory function.
Measured: spontaneous motor activity and pentobarbital-induced sleeping time
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
obesity related mouse research
A 2023 mouse study reported that dietary cedrol reduced high-fat-diet-induced weight gain and visceral fat and improved steatosis, glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and gluconeogenesis-related endpoints.
Measured: body weight gain, visceral fat, hepatic steatosis, glucose tolerance, insulin resistance
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
cyp interaction screen
A 2014 microsome study reported that cedrol potently and competitively inhibited CYP2B6-mediated bupropion hydroxylation and also markedly inhibited CYP3A4-mediated midazolam hydroxylation in vitro.
Measured: CYP2B6- and CYP3A4-mediated metabolism inhibition
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
How it contributes to goal calculations
Model markers guide the formulation score. They are separate from the source findings above.
Use concerns and concentration limits
Sensitization concernFlagged
Flagged in the constituent reference; assess the source, route and finished-product concentration.
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.
Screening assumption (family fallback). It is not a verified constituent-specific exposure limit.
model fallback · Health Benefits, Pharmacological Effects, Molecular Mechanisms, and Therapeutic Potential of alpha-BisabololNo constituent-specific IFRA dermal ceiling, phototoxic restriction, or open human topical-tolerability limit was verified for isolated cedrol 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.
The microsome literature raises an in-vitro CYP interaction signal, but this does not by itself establish a clinically meaningful interaction risk at normal aroma exposure levels.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
Constituents it may interact with
No constituent-pair interaction is recorded for this identity. The report does not assume either amplification or incompatibility.
How the effects were investigated
parasympathetic shift during inhalation
Human inhalation studies reported increased high-frequency heart-rate-variability components, decreased LF/HF ratio, and reduced sympathetic variability markers during cedrol exposure.
Apply this finding only to the studied preparation, participants, route and outcome. It does not establish the same result for a custom oil blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
lower airway autonomic signal
A laryngectomy study suggested that cedrol can influence autonomic parameters through the lower airway and pulmonary system, not only through normal smell perception.
Apply this finding only to the studied preparation, participants, route and outcome. It does not establish the same result for a custom oil blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
cyp2b6 and cyp3a4 inhibition signal
Human liver microsome work reported potent competitive inhibition of CYP2B6-mediated bupropion hydroxylation and marked CYP3A4 inhibition by cedrol in vitro.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this 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 (5)
- Human cedrol evidence is limited to small physiology-style inhalation studies rather than large replicated clinical trials.
- Most benefit-facing literature for cedrol remains preclinical and spans animal or in-vitro models.
- A RIFM fragrance material review confirms cedrol as a weak sensitizer (NESIL 2000 micrograms/cm2), corroborating the existing sensitizing:true flag, but a specific numeric dermal-limit percentage was not verified in openly accessible sources during this pass.
- 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.