Carrot seed oil is the essential oil extract of the seed from the carrot plant '' Daucus carota''. The oil has a woody, earthy sweet smell and is yellow or amber-coloured to pale orange-brown in appearance. The pharmocologically active constituents of carrot seed extract are three

flavones Flavones (from Latin ''flavus'' "yellow") are a class of flavonoids based on the backbone of 2-phenylchromen-4-one (2-phenyl-1- benzopyran-4-one) (as shown in the first image of this article). Flavones are common in foods, mainly from spices, ...

luteolin Luteolin is a flavone, a type of flavonoid, with a yellow crystalline appearance. Luteolin is the principal yellow dye compound that is obtained from the plant '' Reseda luteola'', which has been used as a source of the dye since at least the f ...

, luteolin 3'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, and luteolin 4'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside. Rather than the extract the distilled (ethereal) oil is used in perfumery and food aromatization. The main constituent of this oil is carotol. Pressed carrot seed oil is extracted by cold-pressing the seeds of the carrot plant. The properties of pressed carrot seed oil are quite different from those of the essential oil. It has been used in cosmetics for its alleged anti-aging properties.

References

Essential oils Vegetable oils Carrot {{Vegetable-oil-stub