Chemical Properties
Carrot seed oil is obtained by steam distillation of the crushed seeds of Daucus
carota L. (Apiaceae). It is a light yellow to amber-yellow liquid with a pleasant,
aromatic odor.
d2020 0.900–0.945; n20D 1.4800–1.4930; α20D ?30 ° to ?4 °; solubility: 1 vol in max.
2 vol of 90% ethanol; solutions in up to 10 vol of ethanol are clear to opalescent.
The main constituent of carrot seed oil is carotol, which may be
present in over 50% concentration.
Carrot seed oil is produced in small quantities, for example, in France,Hungary,
and India. It is used in
Chemical Properties
The volatile oil is obtained by steam distillation from the crushed seeds of carrots. The color additive, carrot oil, is
the liquid or the solid portion of the mixture. The mixture can be obtained by hexane extraction of edible carrots, with subsequent
removal of hexane by vacuum distillation. The resultant mixtures of solid and liquid extractives consist chiefly of oils, fats, waxes and
carotenoids naturally occurring in carrots. The essential oil is prepared from seeds, roots and green parts of the plant. Depending on
the parts of the plants used, the yield varies. The oil has a characteristic fatty odor.
Physical properties
It is an amber liquid. Carrot seed oil is soluble in most fixed oils, and is soluble, with opalescence,
in mineral oil. It is practically insoluble in glycerin and propylene glycol.
Definition
Extractives and their physically modified derivatives. Daucus carota, Umbelliferae.
Pharmacology
Extracts of D. carota fruit with 50% ethanol or other solvents were shown to
have a dilating effect on the coronary vessels of the isolated heart of the cat (Jastrezebska, Kaczmarek,
Kedziora, Raszejowa & Wrocinski, 1964), but were among several dilating drugs that were unable
to counteract oxygen-induced coronary vessel contraction and blood-pressure increase in cats (Wrocinski.
1968). The dried extract may be useful in the treatment of coronary vessels (Jastrezebska
et al. 1964).
Carrot seed oil given iv lowered arterial blood pressure in the anaesthetized dog, with depression
of respiration at higher doses. The oil depressed cardiac action in frog and dog hearts. It did
not show any analgesic effect in rats, but markedly depressed central nervous system action in
both rats and fish. The oil offered moderate protection to frogs from the convulsant effect of strychnine
and Metrazol, and produced a relaxant effect on isolated rat and rabbit intestine and isolated
rat uterus. The oil decreased acetylcholine-induced contractions in these preparations and in isolated
skeletal muscles of the frog (Bhargava, Ali & Chauhan, 1967).
