gamma-Cadinene is a cadalane-type sesquiterpene hydrocarbon found in hinoki, Port Orford cedarwood, melon rind volatiles, and a wide range of plant essential oils. The current public evidence base is strongest for identity, occurrence, and biosynthetic context, with a smaller set of studies on fungal isolation, plant volatile variation, and terpene-synthase chemistry. Direct constituent-specific human safety or efficacy literature remains thin, so AromaForge should treat gamma-cadinene primarily as a woody sesquiterpene marker with mechanism data rooted in terpene biosynthesis rather than clinical use.
Chemical identity and composition
PubChem and NIST both place gamma-cadinene in the cadinene sesquiterpene family with formula C15H24. Public records also show stereochemical naming variation: PubChem exposes a (-)-gamma-cadinene entry, NIST indexes trans-gamma-cadinene, and commercial reference pages commonly use (R)-gamma-cadinene for the same constituent family.
Aroma and practical use
- Use the recorded woody, dry, spicy, cedar-like descriptors to explore a blend's scent character; perceived strength also depends on the other ingredients.
- 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.
fungal isolation identity
A PubMed-indexed 1987 paper reported isolation of (-)-gamma-cadinene and aristolochene from Aspergillus terreus, supporting gamma-cadinene as a real natural-product isolate rather than only a library annotation.
Measured: isolation of sesquiterpene products
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
melon varietal volatile research
A PubMed-indexed melon study reported that one cultivar accumulated delta-cadinene, gamma-cadinene, and alpha-copaene as major sesquiterpenes, linking gamma-cadinene to cultivar-specific sesquiterpene synthase activity in fruit rind.
Measured: varietal accumulation of sesquiterpenes
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil blend.
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.
No numeric constituent-specific use limit is available here. Missing is not an unrestricted-use clearance.
The Good Scents gamma-cadinene entry lists the substance under natural substances and extractives and marks it as not for fragrance use and not for flavor use, but without a detailed public toxicology assessment on the page.
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 constituent-specific IFRA limit, human inhalation study, or leave-on dermal limit was verified for isolated gamma-cadinene 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.
Because gamma-cadinene identity is often entangled with stereochemical and trans/muurolene-related nomenclature in reference databases, safety records should be checked against the exact structural assignment before stronger claims are added.
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
No constituent-pair interaction is recorded for this identity. The report does not assume either amplification or incompatibility.
How the effects were investigated
gamma cadinene synthase cyclization
A reviewed UniProt entry describes gamma-cadinene synthase as catalyzing the cyclization of farnesyl diphosphate to gamma-cadinene, placing the constituent in a defined sesquiterpene-biosynthesis pathway.
This reference does not establish a therapeutic result or a safe use level for a custom oil 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 (5)
- No high-quality human safety or efficacy studies specific to isolated gamma-cadinene were verified in the reviewed public sources.
- The most direct mechanistic source located was a database-reviewed synthase entry rather than a full open primary paper with complete accessible details.
- No IFRA Standard exists for gamma-cadinene, so no category-specific dermal maximum could be sourced; the previously recorded dermal_limit_pct:25 and sensitizing:true values were not corroborated by any primary source found in this pass and should be treated as unverified placeholders.
- 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.