Cajeput Oil

What Cajeput Oil smells like

Cajeput oil is extremely pungent, with an odour like a mixture of turpentine, eucalyptus and camphor, in Wikipedia's description; one supplier reports it said to resemble camphor, rosemary and cardamom together. Retailers describe a fresh, camphorous aroma with a slight fruity note. The sources are few and mostly commercial.

Leading note

Camphoraceous eucalyptus

Supporting facets

Turpentine

Faint facets

Fruity, rosemary, cardamom

Character

Pungent, fresh, sharp

• camphoraceous
• fresh
• fruity
• medicinal

What makes Cajeput Oil distinctive

A eucalyptus-camphor freshness with a turpentine edge and a faint fruitiness.

How Cajeput Oil is used

Used in functional, medicinal and fresh-herbal fragrances, and in pharmaceutical products.

Typical role: modifier (used in small amounts to change the character of a blend).

How Cajeput Oil differs from similar materials

Niaouli Oil

Niaouli is softer and sweeter, eucalyptus-like with minty and woody notes; cajeput is more pungent, with turpentine and a faint fruit.

Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree, from a related tree, is terpinen-4-ol-led — woody, herbaceous and medicinal; cajeput is more camphoraceous and eucalyptus-like.

Each difference compares the published descriptions of the two materials. Smell varies with grade, supplier and dilution; compare them side by side on blotters before substituting one for another.

Identity and classification

Type

Essential oil

Origin

Natural

Odour family

Aromatic / Fruity

Note position

Top note

Physical form at room temperature

Liquid

Botanical source

Melaleuca cajuputi

CAS number

8008-98-8

The CAS number was checked on 19 October 2026 against a PubChem substance record that gives it for this material. A natural material is a mixture, so it has no single formula; its composition varies with origin and processing.

Safety and compliance

Suppliers' safety data sheets classify the neat oil as a skin sensitiser (H317, may cause an allergic skin reaction) and an aspiration hazard (H304, may be fatal if swallowed and enters airways). Amrita's sheet adds H226, H315 and H411, and Univar's EU sheet gives Skin Sens. 1 and Asp. Tox. 1 with the signal word Danger. Classifications differ between suppliers; follow the sheet for your lot.

This page is general information, not a safety assessment or a specification. Confirm identity, composition, IFRA status and allergen content from your supplier's documents for the lot you hold.

Materials it works with

• Eucalyptol

  Aroma chemical · Aromatic / Green — camphoraceous, cool, medicinal

• Niaouli Oil

  Essential oil · Aromatic / Green — camphoraceous, fresh, sweet, earthy

• Eucalyptus Oil

  Essential oil · Aromatic / Green — camphoraceous, cooling, medicinal, fresh

• Rosemary Oil

  Essential oil · Aromatic / Woody — herbal, camphoraceous, fresh, woody

Used in formulas and accords

Not currently used in any published formula.

The Formula & Accord Library lists Cajeput Oil here as soon as a published formula, accord or base uses it.

Further reading

• Aromatic Notes in Perfumery: Lavender, Sage, Rosemary and Mint

  The aromatic family for formulators: lavender, lavandin and spike, clary sage, rosemary, mint and basil — chemistry, chemotypes and EU allergen status.

Questions about Cajeput Oil

Sources

• PubChem — substance 135346092, checked 19 October 2026.
• Amrita — Cajuput (Organic) safety data sheet — safety information, read 26 October 2026.
• Univar Solutions — Cajeput oil safety data sheet — safety information, read 26 October 2026.
• Wikipedia — Cajeput oil — published perfumery reference.
• Foreverest — Cajeput oil — manufacturer's description.
• Go Native — Cajeput essential oil — distributor's description.
• Olfactory profile: the RUŌOD Lab team's synthesis of the published descriptions above, reviewed 26 October 2026. Evidence: more than one published description. Classification and the short description: revision 1. Descriptions of odour are judgement, not measurement.