Safrole

Note Profile

Molecule

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About

Safrole is a phenylpropanoid found in sassafras bark. It is warm, sweet and root-beer-like, with an anisic softness and a dry woody floor. It is prohibited by IFRA and classed as a controlled precursor, so it is absent from modern perfumery. This note records what the isolated molecule smells like, not what anyone is formulating with.

Scent Profile

Safrole smells unmistakably sweet and warm, with a candy-shop, root-beer-like character and an anisic softness. A soft, rounded spice sits behind that, gentler than clove or sharp anise. Within minutes a woody undertone appears, close to freshly split sassafras bark, and a balsamic, amber warmth closes it out.

ScentWheel

Breadthmedium

EnvelopeHeart · ~6h lasting

Family Sweet & Gourmand, Spicy

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Materials That Can Make This Note

Perfumers can use this material directly to make Safrole.

Safrole spicy · anise · aromatic

Smell words come from published sources.

A given perfume with this note may use this material, or something else.

Origin

An isolated molecule, found naturally in sassafras bark and in Ocotea oils. The National Toxicology Program's 15th Report on Carcinogens describes the neat material as a colourless or pale-yellow oil with an odour of sassafras.

Usage in Perfumery

Attested once on Fragrantica, in the 'Natural and synthetic, popular and weird' group, and absent from Parfumo. It has no current formulation use. IFRA prohibits it and it is a controlled precursor, so any appearance is historical or descriptive.