Carrot Oil

Scientific Name(s): Daucus carota L., Sativus (Hoffm.) Archang.
Common Name(s): Carrot (seed, root, leaf), Oil of carrot, pastinocello, Queen Anne's lace, Wild carrot

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on Dec 22, 2021.

Clinical Overview

Use

Carrot seed oil has antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. However, clinical trial support is lacking for usage recommendations.

Dosing

Clinical trials do not support dosage guidance.

Contraindications

Contraindications have not yet been identified.

Pregnancy/Lactation

Avoid use. Emmenagogue and abortifacient effects have been reported. Avoid excessive consumption of carrot roots or juice.

Interactions

None well documented.

Adverse Reactions

A case report describes carotenemia appearing as jaundice due to excessive consumption of carrot roots. Allergy and phototoxicity are possible.

Toxicology

Carrot oil is listed as exempt from certification for food use as a colorant. Antifertility effects of the seed oil have been demonstrated in rats.

Scientific Family

• Apiaceae [carrots]

Botany

The carrot is an annual or biennial herb with an erect, multibranched stem and growing up to 1.5 m (4 ft) in height. The wild carrot is commonly seen in fields and along roadsides throughout most of temperate North America and has an intricately patterned flat flower cluster (Queen Anne's lace). The main cluster is made up of about 500 flowers, with a single small, red-to-purplish flower at the center. The wild carrot has an inedible tough white root. It is native to Asia and Europe and was brought to America from England. The common cultivated carrot (D. carota L. subspecies sativus [Hoffm.] Archang.) possesses an edible, fleshy, orange taproot. Purple and black cultivars are also produced. The parts that are used pharmaceutically are the dried seed, which yields carrot seed oil upon steam distillation, and the orange carrot root, which yields root oil by solvent extraction. The leaves are also eaten for traditional medicinal benefit.Khan 2009, USDA 2014

History

The name "Queen Anne's lace" is attributed to a challenge to produce lace as dainty as the plant's flowers. According to a wide range of older references carrot seed oil has been used as an aromatic, carminative, diuretic, emmenagogue, aphrodisiac, and nerve tonic, and as a treatment for dysentery, worms, uterine pain, cancer, diabetes, gout, heart disease, indigestion, and various kidney ailments.Duke 2003, Khan 2009

Carrot seed oil continues to be used primarily as a fragrance in detergents, soaps, creams, lotions, and perfumes (which contain 0.4%, the highest concentration), and as a flavoring in many food products (eg, liqueurs, nonalcoholic beverages, frozen dairy desserts, candy, baked goods, gelatins, puddings, meat products, condiments, relishes, soups), usually in concentrations below 0.003%. The root oil is used in sunscreen preparations, as a yellow food color (because of its high carotene content), and as a good source of beta-carotene and vitamin A.Khan 2009

Chemistry

Carrot seed oil is made up of alpha-pinene (up to 13%), beta-pinene, carotol (up to 18%), daucol, limonene, beta-bisabolene, beta-elemene, cis-beta-bergamotene, gamma-decalactone, beta-farnesene, geraniol, geranyl acetate (up to 10%), caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide, methyl eugenol, nerolidol, eugenol, trans-asarone, vanillin, asarone, alpha-terpineol, terpinene-4-ol, gamma-decanolactone, coumarin, beta-selinene, palmitic acid, and butyric acid, among other constituents. Composition of ...