Capitiú

SyntheticGREENS, HERBS & FOUGERESfresh · green · aromatic

HeartPyramid

3/5Strength

—Tenacity

1Origins

Specimen

Siparuna guianensis Aubl.

Definition

Green, river-earthy, piscine. Capitiu is an Amazonian scent concept — river fish, muddy banks, aquatic vegetation. Strange and hyper-specific.

FLORAL GREEN HERBAL FRESH PEPPERY

CAPA-TIU CAPITU

Type: Ingredient
Olfactive family: Aromatic
Subfamily: Herbal aromatics
Cluster: Green-herbal notes
Source: leaves and flowering tops
Chemical class: complex natural (essential oil)

Instruments

Pyramid

TTop

HHeart

BBase

3/5Strength

Medium

odour strength

Producing countries

Brazil

Scent

Green-aquatic, earthy-muddy, faint piscine undertone. River water, not ocean. Geosmin-rich, vegetal, humid. The smell of an Amazonian riverbank at dawn — specific, strange, realistic rather than pleasant.

In PREMIEREPEAU

DISCOVERY SET7 × 2 ml →EXTRAIT DE PARFUMThe seven extraits →

The Full Story

Capitiu is Brazilian Portuguese for a particular Amazonian river smell — freshwater fish, river mud, aquatic plants. Not a single ingredient but an olfactory concept embedded in Amazonian culture.

The perfumery note is synthetic — combining aquatic-green elements, earthy-muddy components (geosmin, vetiver-type), and faint fishy-marine notes (heavily attenuated trimethylamine derivatives).

In Western perfumery, essentially unknown. Its appearance in niche Brazilian perfumery represents encoding Amazonian terroir into fragrance form.

Some associate it with Siparuna guianensis, whose crushed leaves have pungent, green, slightly fishy scent containing citronellol and geraniol.

—

Related: Alpha Pinene · Angelica · Angelica Root · Angelica Root Oil · Artemisia · Barrenwort · Beachheather · Behini Tree

Did You Know?

The capitiu scent comes partly from geosmin — the same molecule in petrichor. Freshwater fish absorb geosmin from cyanobacteria, concentrating it in flesh — which is why river fish sometimes smell 'muddy.'

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method

No standard extraction. May reference Siparuna guianensis essential oil or be entirely synthetic.

Formula: Key components: Myrcene, beta-Pinene, Atractylone, Curzerene, Germacrene D
CAS: N/A (no standardized CAS for capitiu essential oil)
Botanical: Siparuna guianensis Aubl.
Appearance: Pale yellow to amber liquid
Odour strength: Medium
Synonyms: CAPA-TIU CAPITU

IFRA status

See note

No IFRA Standard for the material itself (51st Amendment)

Physical properties

Note: Essential oil from leaves of Siparuna guianensis; used in Brazilian traditional medicine and emerging in perfumery

In Perfumery

Extreme niche/regional concept encoding Amazonian environmental scent. Built from aquatic-green synthetics, geosmin, vetiver-type earthiness. Functions in avant-garde or Amazonian-themed compositions. Culturally specific, deliberately challenging.

Role in the formula

01modifier

02signature note

03lifting agent

04volume builder

05freshness

Available as

essential oil