Sharp, green-fruity with a particular apple-herbal quality and a slightly toxic edge. Tagetes oil smells like unripe green apples mixed with marigold leaves — pungent, fresh, unusual.
Sharp, green-fruity with apple-like quality. Herbal-marigold underneath. A slightly bitter, almost toxic edge. Unlike any other perfumery oil — simultaneously fruity and herbal. Pungent at concentration; at dilution, the apple quality becomes more prominent.
Essential oil steam-distilled from Tagetes minuta (Mexican marigold, khaki bush), not the ornamental marigold (Tagetes erecta). The oil is yellow to dark orange with an intense, particular aroma.
The scent is unusual in perfumery — sharply green, fruity (apple-like), with an herbal, slightly toxic quality. The dominant constituents are tagetone and various tagetone isomers (dihydrotagetone, cis/trans-tagetone), which give the oil its characteristic sweet-green-fruity character. There is also a subtle marigold-floral quality beneath the green-fruit top.
Tagetes oil is used sparingly in perfumery as a green-fruity modifier. Its character is unlike any other essential oil — the apple-herbal-floral combination is unique. It works in fruity-green compositions and as an unusual accent note.
Tagetes minuta is an effective biological pest control plants known. Its roots secrete alpha-terthienyl, a compound so toxic to soil nematodes that farmers plant tagetes as a 'green fumigant' between crop rotations — a practice documented since the 1930s and still common in organic agriculture.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Steam distillation of the aerial parts (flowers and leaves). Yield is approximately 0.3-0.5%. Major production in South Africa, Egypt, and India. The plant is also cultivated for pest management — Tagetes roots produce thiophenes that are toxic to nematodes.
Complex mixture; main component: tagetone (C₁₀H₁₆O, ~50%)
CAS Number
8016-84-0
Botanical Name
Tagetes minuta · Tagetes patula
IFRA Status
No known restrictions
Synonyms
MARIGOLD OIL · TAGETES EXTRACT
Physical Properties
Appearance
yellow to dark yellow brown clear oily liquid
Flash Point
120.00 °F. TCC ( 48.89 °C. )
Specific Gravity
0.85000 to 0.89000 @ 25.00 °C.
Refractive Index
1.48000 to 1.50700 @ 20.00 °C.
In Perfumery
Specialty modifier in green-fruity and unusual compositions. Tagetes oil provides a unique apple-herbal character used at low concentrations as an accent note. It works in green-fruity accords, unusual floral compositions, and avant-garde perfumery. IFRA restricts usage due to phototoxicity concerns (presence of photoactive compounds).
