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FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND NUTS / fruity · fresh · bitter
Cranberry
Category
FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND NUTS
Subcategory
fruity · fresh · bitter
Origin
Volatility
Top Note
Botanical
Vaccinium macrocarpon
Appearance
Pale yellow to amber liquid
Odor Strength
High
Producing Countries
North America
Pyramid
Top
Tart, sour, faintly green — like biting into a raw berry straight from a flooded Massachusetts bog. Not sweet. Closer to an unripe cherry crossed with quince skin and a whisper of damp forest floor.
Sharp, tart, and decisively sour — more astringent than raspberry, less jammy than blackcurrant. An initial green-fruity burst gives way to a faintly bitter, almost almond-like aromatic facet (from benzaldehyde in the natural fruit). Drier and more angular than most berry notes. Where strawberry is round and sweet, cranberry is lean and acidic, with a cool, almost metallic edge.
Evolution over time
Immediately
Immediately
After a few hours
After a few hours
After a few days
After a few days
Terroir & Post-Harvest Process
Indicative 2025 wholesale prices.
The Full Story
Cranberry in perfumery is almost entirely a synthetic construction. No cranberry essential oil exists. Cranberry absolute (CAS 91770-88-6) is listed by TGSC as a fragrance agent, but it is vanishingly rare in commercial use. Virtually every cranberry note encountered in a finished fragrance is a fantasy accord — a perfumer’s reconstruction built from synthetic molecules.
Aroma Chemistry
The actual volatile profile of Vaccinium macrocarpon was mapped by Croteau and Fagerson (1968): 42 compounds comprising over 95% of the aroma complex, dominated by benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, benzyl benzoate, α-terpineol, benzoic acid, and 2-methylbutyric acid. Later GC-olfactometry work (Joo et al., 2016) identified high-OAV contributors including hexanal, (E)-2-hexenal, ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, β-ionone, and (E)-2-nonenal. The overall impression is tart, green-fruity, with a distinctive bitter, slightly almond-like aromatic backbone from the benzaldehyde.
Terroir and Botany
Vaccinium macrocarpon is native to North America, cultivated in acidic peat bogs. Wisconsin produces roughly 60–65% of the U.S. crop; Massachusetts and New Jersey follow. Cranberry bogs are flooded at harvest — the berries float due to internal air pockets. This is food agriculture, not perfumery supply chain. No terroir distinction is relevant for fragrance purposes, since the note is reconstructed synthetically.
Role in Fragrance
As a top-note fruity accent, the cranberry accord delivers tartness, a sour-berry bite, and a slightly green astringency that contrasts well with floral hearts or gourmand bases. It is a modifier rather than a structural pillar. The note sits within the broader berry facet alongside raspberry, blackcurrant, and blueberry accords, but is distinguished by its pronounced sourness and lower sweetness.
Cranberries float because each berry contains four internal air pockets. American growers exploit this by flooding bogs at harvest, shaking the berries loose with mechanical reels and skimming them off the water surface. Wet-harvested cranberries account for roughly 95% of the U.S. crop but cannot be sold fresh — only dry-harvested berries reach stores whole.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: No cranberry essential oil exists. Cranberry absolute (CAS 91770-88-6) can be obtained by solvent extraction from the fruit of Vaccinium macrocarpon, but it is extremely rare in commercial perfumery. Virtually all cranberry notes in finished fragrances are synthetic accords — fantasy reconstructions assembled from fruity esters, aldehydes, lactones, and berry-type molecules. Cranberry seed oil exists (cold-pressed, rich in omega-3/6 fatty acids) but is a cosmetic carrier oil, not a fragrance material.
Synthetic accord — key aroma molecules in natural fruit include benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol, α-terpineol, ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, β-ionone, benzoic acid
CAS Number
91770-88-6
Botanical Name
Vaccinium macrocarpon
IFRA Status
No known restrictions
Synonyms
AMERICAN CRANBERRY
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
High
Lasting Power
24 hours
Appearance
Pale yellow to amber liquid
Flash Point
> 200 °F (93 °C)
Specific Gravity
0.950–1.020 @ 25 °C
In Perfumery
Cranberry functions as a top-note modifier and lifting agent. It introduces tartness and sour-fruity brightness into compositions, sharpening floral hearts or cutting through dense gourmand bases. It is not a structural note — it accents rather than anchors. The cranberry accord belongs to the fruity family, berry subfamily. In practice, perfumers reconstruct it using combinations of molecules such as ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple-fruity ester), cis-3-hexenol (green-leafy), raspberry ketone (berry sweetness), and various aldehydes and lactones. β-ionone may be used for depth. The natural absolute (CAS 91770-88-6) exists but is commercially negligible. No Première Peau fragrance currently features cranberry as a listed note.
