Castoreum is a yellowish exudate from the castor sacs of mature beavers used in combination with urine to scent mark their territory.Walro, J.M. and Svendsen, G.E., "Castor sacs and anal glands of the North American beaver (Castor canadensis): their histology, development, and relationship to scent communication". Journal of Chemical Ecology, Volume 8, Number 5 / May 1982, Department of Zoology and Microbiology, Ohio University,Müller-Schwarze, Dietland (1992). "Castoreum of beaver (Castor canadensis): function, chemistry and biological activity of its components". Chemical Signals in Vertebrates IV, 457–464, Plenum Press.

Both beaver sexes have a pair of castor sacs and a pair of anal glands, located in two cavities under the skin between the pelvis and the base of the tail.Johnston, Robert E.; Sorenson, Peter W.; and Müller-Schwarze, Dietland (1999). Advances in Chemical Signals in Vertebrates, Springer, 1, 282. . The castor sacs are not true glands (endocrine or exocrine) on a cellular level, hence references to these structures as preputial glands, castor glands, or scent glands are misnomers.Svendsen, G.E., Huntsman, W.D, "A field Assay of Beaver Castoreum and Some of its Components". American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 120, No. 1 (Jul. 1988), pp. 144–149, University of Notre Dame. .

It is extracted with alcohol from the dried and crushed castor sacs for use as a tincture in some perfumesInternational Perfume Museum, Grasse, France, Website: and, rarely, as a food additive.

Chemical composition At least 24 compounds are known constituents of beaver castoreum. Several of these have pheromonal activity, of which the phenols 4-ethylphenol and catechol and the ketones acetophenone and 3-hydroxyacetophenone are strongest. Five additional compounds elicit a weaker response: 4-methylcatechol, 4-methoxyacetophenone, 5-methoxysalicylic acid, salicylaldehyde, and 3-hydroxybenzoic acid.Pheromonal activity of single castoreum constituents in beaver, Castor canadensis., Müller-Schwarze, D and Houlihan, P.W., Journal of Chemical Ecology, April 1991, Volume 17, Number 4, Springer Netherlands, There are also oxygen-containing monoterpenes such as 6-methyl-1-heptanol, 4,6-dimethyl-1-heptanol, isopinocamphone, pinocamphone, and two linalool oxides and their acetates.Neutral compounds from male castoreum of North American beaver, Castor canadensis. Rong Tang, Francis X. Webster, Dietland Müller-Schwarze, Journal of Chemical Ecology, November 1995, Volume 21, Issue 11, pages 1745–1762, Other compounds are: benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol, borneol, o-cresol, 4-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butanone, hydroquinone, and phenol. All those compounds are gathered from plant food. It also contains nupharamine alkaloids,Stereoselective synthesis of enantiomerically pure nupharamine alkaloids from castoreum. Stoye A, Quandt G, Brunnhöfer B, Kapatsina E, Baron J, Fischer A, Weymann M and Kunz H, Angew Chem Int Ed Engl., 2009, volume 48, issue 12, pages 2228–2230, castoramine,Zur Kenntnis der stickstoffhaltigen Inhaltsstoffe von Castoreum. B. Maurer and G. Ohloff, Helvetica Chimica Acta, 2 June 1976, Volume 59, Issue 4, pages 1169–1185, and cis-cyclohexane-1,2-diol.cis-Cyclohexane-1,2-diol in the beaver gland. Z. Valenta, A. Khaleque, M. H. Rashid, Experientia, 1961, Volume 17, Issue 3, page 130,

Uses In perfume

In perfumery, the term castoreum refers to the resinoid extract resulting from the dried and alcohol tinctured beaver castor.Hyraceum.com, "Castoreum, Perfumer's Ancient Intrigue," http://www.hyraceum.com The dried beaver castor sacs are generally aged for two or more years to mellow.

Castoreum is largely used for its note suggesting leather, typically compounded with other ingredients, including top, middle, and base notes. Some classic perfumes incorporating castoreum are Emeraude, Chanel Antaeus, Cuir de Russie, Magie Noire, Lancôme Caractère, Hechter Madame, Givenchy III, Shalimar, and many "leather" themed compositions.

In food In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration lists castoreum extract as a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) food additive. In 1965, the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association's GRAS program (FEMA 2261 and 2262) added castoreum extract and castoreum liquid.Recent Progress In the Consideration Under of Flavoring Ingredients the Food Additives Amendment (1965) Historically, compounds isolated from castoreum were used in strawberry and raspberry flavorings and vanilla substitutes, but at present, the annual industry consumption is very low, around ,Burdock, George A., Fenaroli's handbook of flavor ingredients . CRC Press, 2010. p. 273-5. whereas vanillin is over annually.Burdock, George A., Fenaroli's handbook of flavor ingredients . CRC Press, 2010. p. 274.

Castoreum has been traditionally used in Sweden for flavoring a variety of snaps commonly referred to as ().

Other Castoreum was also considered as an ingredient for the flavor and odor of cigarettes. United States Patent Application US20140123991A1

"Examples of the hydrophobic flavorant include ... castoreum"

Medieval beekeepers used castoreum to increase honey production.The Beaver: Its Life and Impact. Dietland Muller-Schwarze, 2003, page 43 (book at Google Books)

Related animal products Taxea, a secretion of the badger's subcaudal glands comparable in its medicinal use to the better-known castoreum Hyraceum, the petrified and rock-like excrement composed of urine and feces excreted by the Cape hyrax (Procavia capensis), and a sought-after material that has been used in traditional South African medicine and perfumery

See also Musk Ambergris Perfume - Animal sources Violet gland

References

External links