Daucene is a carrot-linked sesquiterpene hydrocarbon best documented as a composition marker of carrot seed essential oil rather than as a well-studied standalone active. Live source checks strongly support its identity and occurrence in Daucus carota materials already present in the AromaForge archive, while the direct biological literature is thin and mostly non-clinical. The clearest isolated-compound evidence in this pass comes from agricultural antifungal screening and one chemical-ecology paper identifying (R)-daucene as part of a beetle aggregation-pheromone blend.
Chemical identity and composition
PubChem identifies daucene as C15H24 with an azulene-like sesquiterpene skeleton. Public registry data are cleaner for CAS 16661-00-0 than for the alternate CAS number currently used in some archive oil records, so this entry follows the PubChem and The Good Scents Company record and flags the variation as an archive cleanup issue. Within the archive, carrot-seed essential-oil records place daucene at 8.74% in a Turkey essential-oil profile and 1.9% in a supplier GC/MS batch, supporting daucene as a recurrent but secondary carrot marker rather than a trace-only constituent.
Aroma and practical use
- Use the recorded woody, earthy, terpenic, carrot-like 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 2019 Journal of Food Processing and Preservation paper isolated daucene, carotol, and daucol from carrot seed material and tested them against three rice phytopathogens, reporting dose-dependent antifungal behavior with stronger activity for more polar materials and for carotol than for the compared hydrocarbons.
This is the clearest isolated-compound activity source located for daucene in this pass, but it supports only early agricultural screening rather than a strong constituent-specific efficacy claim.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
A 2016 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry paper identified (R)-daucene as one of six male-specific volatile components in the aggregation pheromone of a Brazilian Alphitobius diaperinus population and found that the full blend was required for positive chemotactic response in Y-tube bioassays.
This does not translate into human-use bioactivity, but it is a direct functional study showing daucene in a defined ecological signaling role.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
A 2009 GC-MS paper reported daucene at 17.1% in Dendropanax capillaris leaf oil while noting that the measured cytotoxicity in the paper was associated with different oils dominated by other sesquiterpenes.
This source broadens occurrence context for daucene but does not support a direct constituent-level cytotoxic claim.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil 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.
The Good Scents Company record reviewed in this pass lists no determined oral, dermal, or inhalation toxicity values for daucene and gives a placeholder-style 'not for fragrance use' recommendation rather than a validated finished-product limit.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
No constituent-specific IFRA limit, human tolerability study, or phototoxicity warning for isolated daucene was verified in this pass.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
Because the direct literature is limited to occurrence data, agricultural antifungal screening, and insect chemical ecology, archive summaries should avoid wellness or treatment-style claims for isolated daucene.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
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
dose_dependent_in_vitro_antifungal_effect
The 2019 carrot-seed constituent study reported dose-dependent antifungal testing for isolated daucene, but did not establish it as the strongest constituent or define a specific molecular target.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
aggregation_pheromone_component_in_insect_chemotaxis
Behavioral bioassays in lesser mealworm supported daucene's role as one required component in a multi-part aggregation-pheromone blend rather than as a standalone attractant.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
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 (6)
- No human clinical study specific to isolated daucene was verified in this pass.
- No robust constituent-specific dermal limit or toxicology dossier for isolated daucene was located in the reviewed public sources.
- The direct activity literature is thin and does not support strong standalone wellness claims.
- Worker c8 search (2026-07-13): no IFRA/RIFM or peer-reviewed dermal safety data specific to daucene (CAS 16661-00-0) located; only general carrot-seed-oil composition sources 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.