Crushed green leaf, milky white sap, sun-warmed bark. Not one material but a composite — perfumers build fig tree from scratch, layering green oximes over lactones and dry woods to reconstruct a whole territory.
Green, lactonic, and warmly woody. The top is sharp — crush a fig leaf and the juice is sappy, peppery, almost minty. Underneath sits a milky sweetness closer to coconut cream than fruit sugar. Drier than linden blossom, less resinous than hay. The bark contribution is subtle: warm, flat, cedar-adjacent. The overall impression is of standing under a fig tree at noon — shade, sap, heated wood.
Flat dry bark, faint cedar warmth, residual lactonic sweetness
The Full Story
Fig tree is not a single ingredient but an accord — a synthetic reconstruction of Ficus carica in all its parts. No viable natural extract captures the full tree. Fig leaf absolute (CAS 68916-52-9) was once produced in Grasse, but IFRA prohibits its use due to phototoxicity caused by bergapten and angelicin, two furanocoumarins concentrated in the leaves.
The reconstructi on relies on three pillars. The sap: gamm a-octalactone (CAS 104-50-7) provides the milky, lactonic creaminess of unripe fru it latex, with a coconut-adjacent quality. The bark: dry woods like Vertofix Coeur or similar cedarwood derivatives supply the warm, resinous anch or. Some formul as add gamm a-decalactone for additional peachy-coconut qualities.
The tree itself originates from Western Asia. Subfossil parthenocarpic figs dated to 9400-9200 BCE were found at Gilgal I in the Jordan Valley, predating wheat and barley domestication. The scent is inseparable from the limestone-and-heat field of the Mediterranean basin — dry soil, cicada noise, shade under gnarled branches.
Subfossil figs found at Gilgal I in the Jordan Valley, dated to approximately 9400-9200 BCE, are parthenocarpic — they produce fruit without pollination, meaning they could only have been propagated by deliberate human cuttings. This makes Ficus carica a candidate for the first plant ever deliberately cultivated, predating the domestication of wheat and barley by roughly a thousand years.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: No commercially viable natural extraction exists for the full fig tree accord. Fig leaf absolute (CAS 68916-52-9) was historically produced via solvent extraction in Grasse, but IFRA prohibits its use in fragrances due to severe phototoxicity — the leaves contain bergapten and angelicin, furanocoumarins that cause skin burns under UV exposure. The fig tree note is therefore entirely reconstructed from synthetic and semi-synthetic components.
Molecular Formula
Accord (no single molecule). Key components: Stemone / C8H17NO (leaf), gamma-Octalactone / C8H14O2 (sap), Benzaldehyde / C7H6O (fruit)
CAS Number
90028-74-3
Botanical Name
Ficus carica
IFRA Status
Prohibited (fig leaf absolute — phototoxic)
Synonyms
FICUS · FIG WOOD
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
Appearance
Pale yellow to amber viscous liquid
Specific Gravity
0.920–0.960 @ 25°C
In Perfumery
Fig tree functions as a heart-note accord in Mediterranean, green, and summer compositions. It is entirely synthetic in modern use. The accord sits at the intersecti on of green and gourm and families — green enough for casual daytime wear, creamy enough to anch or a compositi on without heavy musks or ambers. Key reconstructi on molecules: stemone (leaf), gamm a-octalactone (milky sap), coconut-type lactones (fru it), cedarwood derivatives (bark). The green-leaf quality places it in fougere and chypre-adjacent formul as; the lactonic quality connects it to gourm and compositions. Fig tree accords rarely functi on as fixatives — the green top-note components are volatile, and even the lactonic heart fades with in hours. Backbone support from woods or musks is required for tenacity.
