Safrole
/ˈsæf.roʊl/noun
A fragrant organic compound found especially in sassafras oil and used historically in flavorings and fragrances.
Did you know?Safrole was formerly used as a flavoring ingredient, but studies of laboratory animals linked it to liver tumors, leading to restrictions in food and fragrance use.
Etymological Timeline
16th Century
Spanish
sasafrás
“The name brought into European languages for the aromatic North American sassafras tree; its deeper Indigenous etymology is uncertain.”
16th–17th Century
English
sassafras
“The aromatic tree and its fragrant bark or roots, valued in early European herbal medicine.”
19th Century
Chemistry
sassafras oil
“The essential oil distilled from sassafras, whose principal fragrant constituent is safrole.”
Late 19th Century
English
safrole
“A chemical name formed from sassafras-related terminology for the compound isolated from sassafras oil.”
Modern English
English
safrole
“A naturally occurring aromatic compound regulated in many countries because of toxicity concerns and its use as a precursor in illicit drug manufacture.”
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