Flavesone is a manuka-associated beta-triketone best known as one of the characteristic triketones in Leptospermum scoparium oil rather than as a mainstream standalone fragrance material. The live evidence base is modest but better than for many niche essential-oil constituents: public sources support its identity, its recurring presence in manuka oil, and several constituent-specific preclinical studies covering virucidal and scabicidal screening. Those findings are still laboratory-stage evidence and should be presented as early bioactivity research, not as a medical claim.
Chemical identity and composition
PubChem lists flavesone as CID 15800949 with formula C14H20O4 and IUPAC name 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-6-(2-methylpropanoyl)cyclohexane-1,3,5-trione. In the archive's current manuka oil record, flavesone is a directly quantified major secondary triketone at 6.09%, while a separate Good Scents manuka GC listing shows a similar order of magnitude at 4.91%. This positions flavesone as a meaningful manuka marker rather than a trace constituent.
Aroma and practical use
- Use the recorded manuka-like, medicinal, herbaceous, warm 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 2005 Planta Medica study reported that flavesone and leptospermone inhibited HSV-1 virulence in cell culture; when virus was pretreated before infection, plaque formation was reduced by 99.1% for flavesone at non-cytotoxic concentrations.
A 2005 Planta Medica study reported that flavesone and leptospermone inhibited HSV-1 virulence in cell culture; when virus was pretreated before infection, plaque formation was reduced by 99.1% for flavesone at non-cytotoxic concentrations.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
A 2007 Phytochemistry paper testing manuka beta-triketones against plant p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase found leptospermone and grandiflorone active, but flavesone was not active in that assay.
A 2007 Phytochemistry paper testing manuka beta-triketones against plant p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase found leptospermone and grandiflorone active, but flavesone was not active in that assay.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
A 2025 Phytomedicine study found flavesone, leptospermone, and isoleptospermone had comparable miticidal activity against scabies mites and high ovicidal activity, with flavesone-linked metabolite changes interpreted as possible tyrosine-catabolism interference.
A 2025 Phytomedicine study found flavesone, leptospermone, and isoleptospermone had comparable miticidal activity against scabies mites and high ovicidal activity, with flavesone-linked metabolite changes interpreted as possible tyrosine-catabolism interference.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
Within the archive's current manuka record, flavesone was directly quantified at 6.09%, supporting its relevance as a real batch constituent rather than only a literature abstraction.
Within the archive's current manuka record, flavesone was directly quantified at 6.09%, supporting its relevance as a real batch constituent rather than only a literature abstraction.
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.
No constituent-specific human safety trial, IFRA restriction, or dermal maximum for isolated flavesone 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 strongest flavesone evidence comes from in vitro antiviral and mite-killing assays, archive copy should avoid implying proven therapeutic or antiparasitic effects in people.
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.
LeptospermoneAmplification 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 · effect
No source citation attached.
Read Leptospermone report →How the effects were investigated
direct virucidal contact effect
In HSV cell-culture work, flavesone reduced plaque formation when virus particles were pretreated before cell infection, which supports a direct virucidal or virion-disrupting effect rather than a host-cell conditioning effect.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
possible hppd link in scabies model
A 2025 scabies study reported altered tyrosine and fumarate levels after flavesone exposure and proposed interference with mite hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase, but this remains an in vitro plus in silico hypothesis and should not be generalized beyond that model.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
inactive against plant hppd in 2007 assay
A 2007 phytochemistry paper found flavesone inactive against plant HPPD while related manuka triketones were active, indicating that any HPPD-linked story is structure- and system-dependent rather than uniformly established for flavesone.
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 (6)
- No human clinical evidence for isolated flavesone was located.
- The HPPD-related mechanism signal is mixed across biological systems, with inactivity in the 2007 plant assay and only provisional support in the 2025 mite model.
- No IFRA Standard exists for flavesone, so no category-specific dermal maximum could be sourced; constituent-specific dermal, inhalation, reproductive, and chronic safety data were not verified in 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.
- Interaction candidates lack an attached source citation and remain unqualified.