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Carrot Seeds

Q: Is Carrot Seeds natural or synthetic?

. Extraction: Steam distillation of dried seeds of Daucus carota. Yield 0.5-1.5%. CO2 extraction also available for a fuller, more rounded profile. Production: France, India, Egypt..

GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES / earthy · warm · musky

Carrot Seeds

Category	GREENS, HERBS AND FOUGERES
Subcategory	earthy · warm · musky
Origin
Volatility	Heart Note
Botanical	Daucus carota
Appearance	Pale yellow to amber liquid
Odor Strength	Medium
Producing Countries	France, India
Pyramid	Heart

Earthy-woody, dry, faintly iris-like. Carrot seed oil smells nothing like carrots — it is powdery, rooty, with a structured orris-adjacent dryness.

Scent
Terroir & Origins
The Full Story
Fun Fact
Extraction & Chemistry
In Perfumery

Scent

Earthy, dry, powdery-woody with iris-adjacent complexity. Nothing vegetable about it. Carotol-driven — warm, rooty, with a quiet elegance. Like standing in a freshly turned field at dawn: soil, roots, dry air, a whisper of something powdery and clean.

Evolution over time

Immediately

Earthy-woody, dry, faintly powdery-iris

After a few hours

Warm rooty depth, powdery sweetness, sophisticated

After a few days

Persistent dry earthiness, orris-adjacent trail

Terroir & Transformation

Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.

The Full Story

Carrot seed essential oil (from Daucus carot a seeds) consistently surprises: it has almost nothing in comm on with the familiar orange vegetable. The scent is earthy, dry, woody, with a particular powdery-iris quality that places it closer to orr is root than to any vegetable.

The oil is dominated by carotol (30-70%), a sesquiterpene alcohol that provides the earthy-woody-sweet character. Daucol and daucene contribute dry, rooty qualities. The powdery-iris parallel comes from shared structural features between carotol and ionone-type compounds.

In perfumery, carrot seed oil is a niche but valued material. It functions as a base-note earthy-powdery modifier — a natural source of iris-adjacent dryness at a fraction of orris butter's cost. It appears in chypre, woody, and modern skin-scent compositions.

Major production: France, India, Egypt. The seeds are harvested from wild or cultivated Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace). Yield approximately 0.5-1.5%.

This note in Première Peau. Simili Mirage · Gravitas Capitale. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.

Did You Know?

Did you know?

Wild carrot (Daucus carota) is the ancestor of all cultivated carrots. The familiar orange carrot was not developed until the 17th century in the Netherlands — before that, carrots were white, yellow, or purple. The essential oil comes from the wild form, not the cultivated vegetable.

Extraction & Chemistry

Extraction method: Steam distillation of dried seeds of Daucus carota. Yield 0.5-1.5%. CO2 extraction also available for a fuller, more rounded profile. Production: France, India, Egypt.

↑ See Terroir & Origins for origin-specific methods.

Molecular Formula	N/A — complex essential oil (key: carotol C₁₅H₂₆O ~67%)
CAS Number	8015-88-1
Botanical Name	Daucus carota
IFRA Status	No known restrictions
Synonyms	carrot seed oil, carrot seed extract
Physical Properties
Odor Strength	Medium
Lasting Power	48 hours at 100.00%
Appearance	Pale yellow to amber liquid
Flash Point	> 200.00 °F. TCC ( > 93.33 °C. )
Specific Gravity	0.900 to 0.945 @ 25 °C
Refractive Index	1.480 to 1.495 @ 20 °C

In Perfumery

Base-note earthy-powdery modifier. Carotol-rich oil providing iris-adjacent dryness at lower cost than orris butter. Functions in chypre, woody, and skin-scent compositions. Works alongside vetiver, iris, and woody ambers. An underrated material offering structured earthiness.