tau-Cadinol is a cadinane sesquiterpene alcohol found in several woody and shrub-derived oils in the AromaForge archive, including hinoki wood, hinoki essential oil, Port Orford cedarwood, and leleshwa camphor bush. The strongest public evidence combines identity and occurrence data with a small but real isolated-compound pharmacology literature published largely under the synonym T-cadinol. That evidence is still preclinical and complicated by synonym and stereochemistry overlap with epi-alpha-cadinol, so AromaForge should present tau-cadinol as a meaningful woody-oil marker with early-stage mechanistic signals rather than as a clinically validated active.
Chemical identity and composition
PubChem resolves the name epi-alpha-cadinol to CID 160799 and lists T-cadinol, tau-cadinol, 10-epi-alpha-cadinol, and Cedrelanol among the synonyms, while NIST lists tau-cadinol under CAS 5937-11-1. Because local oil files already use the constituent id tau_cadinol, this record preserves that archive identity but explicitly notes overlap with epi-alpha-cadinol naming in public databases. In the local archive, hinoki wood lists tau-cadinol at 10.61%, hinoki essential oil at 6.15%, Port Orford cedarwood at 5.88%, and leleshwa camphor bush at 6.4%, which makes it a meaningful profile contributor rather than a trace artifact.
Aroma and practical use
- Use the recorded woody, balsamic, resinous, spicy, cedar-like, warm, resin 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 1991 Planta Medica paper isolated (+)-T-cadinol from scented myrrh and reported concentration-dependent relaxation of isolated guinea-pig ileum plus a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on cholera-toxin-induced intestinal hypersecretion in mice.
A 1991 Planta Medica paper isolated (+)-T-cadinol from scented myrrh and reported concentration-dependent relaxation of isolated guinea-pig ileum plus a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on cholera-toxin-induced intestinal hypersecretion in mice.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
A 1991 Pharmacol Toxicol study reported that T-cadinol relaxed potassium-induced rat-aorta contractions in a concentration-dependent manner and concluded that it is a calcium antagonist, although far less potent than nimodipine.
A 1991 Pharmacol Toxicol study reported that T-cadinol relaxed potassium-induced rat-aorta contractions in a concentration-dependent manner and concluded that it is a calcium antagonist, although far less potent than nimodipine.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
A 2021 Frontiers in Pharmacology paper reported T-cadinol IC50 values of 18 microM against Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes and 15 microM against amastigotes, with a reported selectivity index greater than 12 and a mitochondrial-impairment signal in the parasite.
A 2021 Frontiers in Pharmacology paper reported T-cadinol IC50 values of 18 microM against Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes and 15 microM against amastigotes, with a reported selectivity index greater than 12 and a mitochondrial-impairment signal in the parasite.
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.
No authoritative standalone IFRA-style dermal limit or constituent-specific human tolerability study was verified for isolated tau-cadinol 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.
Public identity records overlap strongly with epi-alpha-cadinol naming, so stereochemistry should be checked carefully when comparing supplier COAs, databases, and pharmacology papers.
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 direct activity literature is preclinical and includes measurable smooth-muscle and calcium-channel-related effects, isolated tau-cadinol should not be treated as an inert woody marker without dose-specific safety context.
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
calcium antagonist signal
A 1991 rat-aorta study concluded that T-cadinol behaved as a calcium antagonist with pharmacological similarities to nimodipine, possibly interacting with dihydropyridine binding sites on calcium channels.
This experimental finding does not establish benefit, dose or safety in people using this blend.
No direct public citation is attached to this entry.
trypanosome mitochondrial impairment signal
A 2021 Trypanosoma cruzi study reported that T-cadinol affected parasite mitochondrial function, producing membrane-potential hyperpolarization with decreased reactive oxygen species and no observed calcium-level alteration.
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 (6)
- Public chemistry sources strongly overlap tau-cadinol with epi-alpha-cadinol naming, so exact stereochemical normalization remains imperfect.
- No human clinical studies specific to isolated tau-cadinol were verified in the reviewed public sources.
- No authoritative constituent-specific dermal limit, sensitization review, or phototoxicity study was located in this pass.
- No IFRA, RIFM, Tisserand & Young, or EU Annex III dermal limit or sensitization determination was found for tau-cadinol as of 2026-07-13 verification pass; the previous dermal_limit_pct value of 20 and sensitizing:true had no locatable citation and were 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.