Composition
100% essential oil of Carum carvi. Origin: Eastern Europe.
The plant and the oil
Caraway oil is steam-distilled from the dried, crushed ripe fruits, and its main components are carvone and limonene.[3]
Scent
What it smells like. The oil has a strong, peculiar scent typical of the fruit; asked about an unlabelled sample, smell panels often say it "smells of rye bread", because rye bread is flavoured with caraway oil. Crude oil can have an unpleasant first note that redistilled oil does not have.[3]
Where it is used. Caraway oil is used mainly in flavours for bread, cheese, meat, pickles and sauces, and in Scandinavian caraway spirits; also in mouthwashes, toothpastes, chewing gum and sweets. In perfumery it is little used, mostly to scent soap.[3]
How to use
Scent a room. The oil is intended to gently stimulate creativity.[2]
Make a massage oil. Mix the oil into a carrier oil such as jojoba oil. 1% means 1 ml of caraway oil in 100 ml of blend.
For people aged 15 and over, the recommended share of essential oil in a blend is up to 2% for general wellbeing, but not every day. During an illness, at most 5% is acceptable, and only for a short time.[4]
| Share of caraway oil | Caraway oil in 10 ml of blend | Carrier oil in 10 ml of blend |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5% | 0.05 ml | 9.95 ml |
| 1% | 0.1 ml | 9.9 ml |
| 2% | 0.2 ml | 9.8 ml |
Before the first use, try a little of the blend on a small patch of undamaged skin. If the skin reacts, stop and apply a little vegetable oil or cream.[5]
Add it to a bath only well dispersed. Caraway oil irritates the mucous membranes, the moist linings of the body, so it should be used in a bath only when it is well diluted in a dispersant such as a bath gel base or vegetable oil.[5]
Precautions
- do not swallow it or put it on the skin undiluted;[6]
- keep it away from the eyes;[5]
- keep the bottle out of the reach of children.[5]
- Caraway oil irritates the mucous membranes.[5]
- People who are allergic to caraway or to other plants of the carrot family, such as fennel, anise, celery, coriander and dill, should not use caraway oil medicines.[1]
- People with asthma should try the scent carefully at first: fragrances, natural ones included, can make the condition worse.[7]
- In pregnancy, use it on the skin only well diluted, at 1 to 2%.[8]
- Premature babies get no essential oils on the skin, and babies up to 3 months old get at most 0.1%.[4]
- Older children, too, need much weaker blends than adults.[4]
- The oil burns easily: keep it away from candles and flames.[5]
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 European Medicines Agency, Carvi aetheroleum: herbal medicinal product. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Vivasan, product packaging of Caraway Oil (E 122).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Steffen Arctander, Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, Elizabeth, NJ, 1960: Caraway Oil.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (IFPA), Guidelines to IFPA Members Treating Babies and Children. Revised August 2021.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), Safety. Retrieved 8 November 2026.
- ↑ International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (IFPA), Statement on Internal and Undiluted Use of Essential Oils. November 2019.
- ↑ Robert Tisserand, Proof of Safety: Challenges Facing Essential Oil Therapy. AIA Conference 2007.
- ↑ International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (IFPA), Pregnancy and Lactation Guidelines. Revised August 2021.