GET TO KNOW YOUR OILS
Sweet Fennel
Foeniculum vulgare Miller subsp. vulgare var. dulce (Mill.) Batt. & Trab.
Chemotype: anethole chemotype
- PLANT PART
- ripe fruits (seeds)
- EXTRACTION
- steam distillation
- AROMA NOTE
- top-mid
LEARN AS YOU COMPARE
What’s inside this oil?
Constituents are the natural chemicals that give an oil its character. See the main ones, learn what they do, and explore differences between batches.
Meet the main constituents, then select one to see what makes it interesting.
FOLLOW YOUR SENSES
Aroma & character
A closer look at this oil's scent, strength, and staying power.
- Aroma intensity
- 60 / 100
- Note layer
- top-mid
If you like this scent, explore
A LITTLE CARE GOES A LONG WAY
Using it thoughtfully
Read the full safety context before bringing this oil into your routine.
- Cited dermal maximum · leave-on
- 2.5%
- Phototoxicity
- Not flagged in this profile
- Oxidation risk
- high
A cited maximum is a limit, not a suggested dilution. Missing restrictions do not establish safety.
No furocoumarin-based phototoxic restriction was identified in the cited public sources for sweet fennel fruit oil.
Contraindications & cautions
- majorAvoid in pregnancy and breastfeeding because the cited safety references flag estragole exposure and reproductive-hormone concerns.
- majorAvoid in children under five years of age.
- moderateUse caution with anticoagulant medication or bleeding disorders because the cited safety profiles flag possible inhibition of blood clotting.
Explore measured chemistry from supplier batches
A supplier report describes a particular sample. Open this workspace to investigate measured constituents and their original documents.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SCENT
Inside the oil
An oil's character comes from its natural chemical composition. Explore each constituent to understand the connections.
About this composition
Sweet fennel oil is the anethole-rich var. dulce type with markedly lower fenchone than bitter fennel. The record below combines EMA's var. dulce definition with a directly readable commercial sweet-fennel technical profile whose constituent ranges match the sweet anethole chemotype.
| Constituent | Typical amount | Reported range | Chemical family | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| trans-Anethole | 75.3% | 58.1–92.5% | phenylpropanoid | View sourceKush Aroma Exports sweet fennel profile; EMA assessment report on sweet fennel fruit Sweet fennel source set: cited 58.1-92.5% range; pct_typical is the midpoint of the cited range because no single dominant-chemotype average was published in the readable sources |
| Limonene | 10.6% | 0.2–21% | monoterpene hydrocarbon | View sourceKush Aroma Exports sweet fennel profile Sweet fennel source set: cited 0.2-21.0% range; pct_typical is the midpoint of the cited range because no single dominant-chemotype average was published in the readable sources |
| Fenchone | 4.1% | 0.2–8% | monoterpene ketone | View sourceKush Aroma Exports sweet fennel profile; Essential oil composition of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. fruits from pharmacies in different countries Sweet fennel source set: cited 0.2-8.0% range; pct_typical is the midpoint of the cited range because no single dominant-chemotype average was published in the readable sources |
| Estragole | 2.95% | 1.1–4.8% | phenylpropanoid | View sourceKush Aroma Exports sweet fennel profile Sweet fennel source set: cited 1.1-4.8% range; pct_typical is the midpoint of the cited range because no single dominant-chemotype average was published in the readable sources |
| alpha-Pinene | 1.75% | 0.1–3.4% | monoterpene hydrocarbon | View sourceKush Aroma Exports sweet fennel profile Sweet fennel source set: cited 0.1-3.4% range; pct_typical is the midpoint of the cited range because no single dominant-chemotype average was published in the readable sources |
| alpha-Phellandrene | 1.05% | 0.1–2% | monoterpene hydrocarbon | View sourceKush Aroma Exports sweet fennel profile Sweet fennel source set: cited 0.1-2.0% range; pct_typical is the midpoint of the cited range because no single dominant-chemotype average was published in the readable sources |
| cis-Anethole | — | — | phenylpropanoid | View sourceKush Aroma Exports sweet fennel profile Sweet fennel source set: max 0.7%; no distinct typical value published |
Profile source: EMA assessment report on Foeniculum vulgare Miller subsp. vulgare var. dulce fructus; AromaWeb sweet fennel profile; Kush Aroma Exports sweet fennel profile · EMA lines 104-107, 138-140, 1233-1243 and 1245-1248 for sweet-fennel fruit identity, crushed-fruit use, and short-term traditional-use framing; AromaWeb for odor profile and 2.5% dermal maximum; Kush Aroma Exports for source plant and commercial oil profile
What we're still learning · 4 data gaps
Good decisions start with knowing what is — and isn't — in the evidence.
- Odor intensity 60 is a normalization of the cited medium-strong aroma band into the archive's 0-100 scale.
- pct_typical values for the constituents with min/max ranges are midpoint derivations from the cited ranges because the readable sources did not publish a single dominant-chemotype average.
- No direct public volatility-rate or tenacity-hour values were located for sweet fennel essential oil.
- cis-anethole is published only as a maximum value in the reviewed sources, so pct_typical remains null.