safrole

plural safroles · alternative safrol

1. countableuncountablechemistryA colourless to yellow liquid, a component of sassafras oil and brown camphor oil, with pesticidal properties.

   1 more example

   Glycyrrhizin is found in the roots of the licorice plant. Another root, sassafras (the flavor of root-beer), got in trouble because of the compound safrole, which is even more toxic than glycyrrhizin. Sale of raw sassafras extract was banned in 1960, and today it can be sold freely only if it has had the safrole removed, both because it's poisonous, and because, quite separately, safrole happens to be a precursor chemical used in the synthesis of the illegal drug MDMA.

   2014, Theodore Gray, photography by Nick Mann, Molecules: The Elements and the Architecture of Everything, 2018 Paperback Edition, page 178

   Synonyms: shikimol