Cedar oil, also known as cedarwood oil, is an essential oil derived from various types of conifers, most in the pine or cypress botanical families. It is produced from the foliage, and sometimes the wood, roots, and stumps left after logging of trees for timber. It has many uses in art, industry, and perfumery, and while the characteristics of oils derived from various species may vary, all have some degree of pesticidal effects.
Although termed cedar or cedarwood oils, the most important oils are produced from distilling wood of a number of different junipers (Juniperus) and cypresses (Cupressus; both of the family Cupressaceae), rather than true cedars (of the family Pinaceae). [1] Similar oils are distilled, pressed or chemically extracted in small quantities from wood, roots, and leaves from plants of the genera Platycladus , Cupressus , Taiwania , and Calocedrus .
One of the elements found in many cedar trees is cedrol. The amount of cedrol in a species of cedar affects its pesticidal effect on insects. As part of ancient Egyptian funerary practices, cedar oil was used in embalming, which in effect helped to keep insects from disturbing the body.
Cedarwood oil is a mixture of organic compounds considered generally safe by the FDA as a food additive preservative. The United States EPA "does not expect [toxic] effects to occur among users of currently registered cedarwood oil products" because their use and public exposure is at a lower level and more intermittent than in case studies (e.g., U.S. National Toxicology Program [2] ). The EPA believes there is negligible human and environmental risk posed by exposure to registered cedarwood pesticide if used in properly prescribed manner. [3]
All the cedarwood oils of commerce contain a group of chemically related compounds, the relative proportions of which depend upon the species from which the oil is obtained. [4] These compounds include cedrol and cedrene, and while they contribute something to the odor of the whole oil they are also valuable to the chemical industry for conversion to other derivatives with fragrance applications. The oils are therefore used both directly and as sources of chemical isolates.
| Substance | Texas | Virginia ( Juniperus virginiana ) | Western red ( Thuja plicata ) | Deodar (C. deodara) [5] | C. libani [6] | C. atlantica [6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thujopsene | 60.4 | 27.6 | 0 | |||
| Cedrol | 19.0 | 15.8 | 0 | |||
| (−)-α-Cedrene | 1.8 | 27.2 | 0 | |||
| (+)-β-Cedrene | 1.6 | 7.7 | 0 | |||
| α-Copaene | 2.8 | 6.3 | 0 | |||
| Widdrol | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0 | |||
| Methyl thujate | 0 | 0 | 65 | |||
| Thujic acid | 0 | 0 | 25 | |||
| β-Thujaplicin | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| α-Thujaplicin | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | This section needs additional citations for verification .(May 2022) |
Cedarwood oils each have characteristic woody odours which may change somewhat in the course of drying out. The crude oils are often yellowish or even darker in color and some, such as Texas cedarwood oil (derived primarily from Juniperus ashei and J. deppeana ), are quite viscous and deposit crystals on standing. They find use (sometimes after rectification ) in a range of fragrance applications such as soap perfumes, household sprays, floor polishes and insecticides. Small quantities are used in microscope work as a clearing oil.
Today, cedarwood oil is often used for its aromatic properties, especially in aromatherapy; it can also be used to renew the smell of natural cedar furniture. Cedarwood oil is used as an insect repellent, both directly applied to the skin and as an additive to sprays, candles and other products.
In India, oil from the deodar cedar ( Cedrus deodara , a true cedar) has been shown to possess insecticidal and antifungal properties and to have some potential for control of fungal deterioration of spices during storage. [7] It is still sometimes also used to clarify emeralds. [8]
The cedarwood oil of the ancients, in particular the Sumerians and Egyptians, was derived from the Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani), a true cedar native to the northern and western mountains of the Middle East. The once-mighty Cedar of Lebanon forests of antiquity have been almost entirely eradicated, and today no commercial oil extraction is based on this species.
Cedarwood oil was used as the base for paints by the ancient Sumerians. They would grind cobalt compounds in a mortar to produce a blue pigment. They could obtain green from copper, yellow from lead antimonate, black from charcoal, and white from gypsum.
One of three methods of ancient Egyptian embalming practices employs the use of cedarwood oil. This was a less costly method than the best known of the ancient Egyptian practices of removing internal organs for separate preservation in canopic jars. The practice
...called for the injection of cedar oil into body cavities without evisceration. The body was laid in natrum or natron—a fixed alkali—for the prescribed period, after which the cedarwood oil, which had dissolved the soft organs, was released; and the body, its flesh dissolved by the natron, was reduced to preserved skin and bones. [9]
As the Roman naturalist and author Pliny the Elder (23/24 –79 CE) in his encyclopedic work Natural History (Latin : Naturalis Historia) describes how aromatic oils are produced through the destructive distillation of pine wood, he also mentions that a similar substance, “cedrium” (cedar oil), is produced in Syria, and how it is used. [10]
In Europe, tar is extracted from [ Pinus mugo ] by the agency of fire. ... The first steam that exudes flows ... into a reservoir made for its reception: in Syria this substance is known as “cedrium”; and it possesses such remarkable strength, that in Egypt the bodies of the dead, after being steeped in it, are preserved from all corruption.
Until the development of synthetic immersion oil in the 1940s, cedarwood oil was widely used for the oil immersion objective in light microscopy.
Cedrus, with the common English name cedar, is a genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae. They are native to the mountains of the western Himalayas and the Mediterranean region, occurring at altitudes of 1,500–3,200 m (4,900–10,500 ft) in the Himalayas and 1,000–2,200 m (3,300–7,200 ft) in the Mediterranean.
Natron is a naturally occurring mixture of sodium carbonate decahydrate (Na2CO3·10H2O, a kind of soda ash) and around 17% sodium bicarbonate (also called baking soda, NaHCO3) along with small quantities of sodium chloride and sodium sulfate. Natron is white to colourless when pure, varying to gray or yellow with impurities. Natron deposits are sometimes found in saline lake beds which arose in arid environments. Throughout history natron has had many practical applications that continue today in the wide range of modern uses of its constituent mineral components.
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south as tropical Africa, including the Arctic, parts of Asia, and Central America. The highest-known juniper forest occurs at an altitude of 4,900 metres (16,100 ft) in southeastern Tibet and the northern Himalayas, creating one of the highest tree lines on earth.
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An essential oil is essential in the sense that it contains the essence of the plant's fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived. The term "essential" used here does not mean indispensable or usable by the human body, as with the terms essential amino acid or essential fatty acid, which are so called because they are nutritionally required by a living organism.
Cedrus libani, the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar, is a species of tree in the genus Cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religious and historical significance in the cultures of the Middle East, and is referenced many times in the literature of ancient civilisations. It is the national emblem of Lebanon and is widely used as an ornamental tree in parks and gardens.
Cedrus deodara, the deodar cedar, Himalayan cedar, or deodar, is a species of cedar native to the Himalayas.
Destructive distillation is a chemical process in which decomposition of unprocessed material is achieved by heating it to a high temperature; the term generally applies to processing of organic material in the absence of air or in the presence of limited amounts of oxygen or other reagents, catalysts, or solvents, such as steam or phenols. It is an application of pyrolysis. The process breaks up or 'cracks' large molecules. Coke, coal gas, gaseous carbon, coal tar, ammonia liquor, and coal oil are examples of commercial products historically produced by the destructive distillation of coal.
Cedrus atlantica, the Atlas cedar, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae, native to the Rif and Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and to the Tell Atlas in Algeria. A majority of the modern sources treat it as a distinct species Cedrus atlantica, but some sources consider it a subspecies of Lebanon cedar.
Juniperus oxycedrus, vernacularly called Cade, cade juniper, prickly juniper, prickly cedar, or sharp cedar, is a species of juniper, native across the Mediterranean region, growing on a variety of rocky sites from sea level. The specific epithet oxycedrus means "sharp cedar" and this species may have been the original cedar or cedrus of the ancient Greeks.
The Cedars of God, located in the Kadisha Valley of Bsharre, Lebanon, is one of the last vestiges of the extensive forests of the Lebanon cedar that thrived across Mount Lebanon in antiquity. All early modern travelers' accounts of the wild cedars appear to refer to the ones in Bsharri; the Christian monks of the monasteries in the Kadisha Valley venerated the trees for centuries. The earliest documented references of the Cedars of God are found in Tablets 4-6 of the great Epic of Gilgamesh, six days walk from Uruk.
Horsh Ehden is a nature reserve located in Northern Lebanon. It contains a forest of the cedar of Lebanon, making it a part of the country's cultural and natural heritage. It is located on the northwestern slopes of Mount Lebanon, the nature reserve experiences high precipitation and is home to numerous rare and endemic plants. Stands of cedars also include a mixed forest of juniper, fir, and the country's last protected community of wild apple trees. In the forest are endangered eastern imperial eagles or Bonelli's eagles, gray wolves, wildcats, golden jackals, and red foxes. Valleys and gorges also have wild orchids, salamanders, mushrooms, and other flora and fauna.
Thujaplicin is any of three isomeric tropolone-related natural products that have been isolated from the softwoods of the trees of Cupressaceae family. These compounds are known for their antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant properties. They were the first natural tropolones to be made synthetically.
Hinokitiol (β-thujaplicin) is a natural monoterpenoid found in the wood of trees in the family Cupressaceae. It is a tropolone derivative and one of the thujaplicins. Hinokitiol is used in oral and skin care products, and is a food additive used in Japan.
Cedrol is a sesquiterpene alcohol found in the essential oil of conifers, especially in the genera Cupressus (cypress) and Juniperus (juniper). It has also been identified in Origanum onites, a plant related to oregano. Its main uses are in the chemistry of aroma compounds. It makes up about 19% of cedarwood oil Texas and 15.8% of cedarwood oil Virginia.
This is an alphabetical list of useful timber trees, indigenous and exotic, growing in the Gauteng area of South Africa. These trees range in size up to some 1.5m DBH, such as Cedrus deodara, the Himalayan Cedar. Hobbyists will seek out even small pieces of highly valued timber, such as Buxus macowanii, the South African counterpart of Buxus sempervirens, for turnery or the making of boxes and small items. Despite the wealth of useful woods available in Gauteng, most of the trees, felled or fallen, are dumped or cut into short lengths for fuel. Trees grown in urban or suburban environments are rarely pruned and are consequently often knotty. Timber frequently holds nails, wire and spikes, attesting to a variety of abuse during the lifetime of a tree, and requiring the use of a metal detector by the sawmiller. Garden cuttings and dead leaves are occasionally piled next to trees and burnt, leaving charred scars and inclusions.
The Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests ecoregion, in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, is in the eastern Mediterranean Basin.
Mihrabat Nature Park is a nature park located on the Asian part in Beykoz district of Istanbul Province, Turkey.
Bratus is the name of a tree Pliny the Elder described in his Naturalis Historia:
Book 12, chapt. 39 —THE TREE CALLED BRATUS.
Hence it is, that they import from the country of the Elymæi the wood of a tree called bratus, which is similar in appearance to a spreading cypress. Its branches are of a whitish colour, and the wood, while burning, emits a pleasant odour; it is highly spoken of by Claudius Cæsar, in his History, for its marvellous properties. He states that the Parthians sprinkle the leaves of it in their drink, that its smell closely resembles that of the cedar, and that the smoke of it is efficacious in counteracting the effects of smoke emitted by other wood. This tree grows in the countries that lie beyond the Pasitigris, in the territory of the city of Sittaca, upon Mount Zagrus.