Cubeb oil is obtained by steam distillation of the dried fruit (berries) of Piper cubeba L. (sometimes known as tailed pepper or Java pepper), a member of the Piperaceae family. Piper cubeba is a perennial, woody, dioecious, climbing vine that is mostly grown in Java and Sumatra. The vine possesses slightly aromatic leaves and aromatic globose, berry-like fruit which are borne on a spike similar to black pepper. It is estimated that 5–6 metric tonnes of cubeb oil are produced annually in Indonesia.
A survey of the published reviews on cubeb oil (Lawrence, 1980, 2001, 2009) revealed that the constituents that were unequivocally characterized in this oil, listed in elution order from a non-polar capillary GC column, were as follows:
α -thujene (< 0.1–2.5%)
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α -pinene (0.3–7.9%)
sabinene (0.7–29.6%)
β -pinene (< 0.1–0.2%)
myrcene (< 0.1–1.7%)
α -terpinene (< 0.1–1.3%)
p-cymene (< 0.1–1.1%)
limonene (0.1–4.4%)
1,8-cineole (0.3–0.8%)
β -phellandrene (< 0.1–0.8%)
γ -terpinene (0.1–0.7%)
(E)-β -ocimene (< 0.1–0.1%)
cis-sabinene hydrate (< 0.1–0.4%)
terpinolene (< 0.1–0.3%)
linalool (< 0.1–1.0%)
borneol (< 0.1–0.3%)
terpinen-4-ol (0.1–2.7%)
p-cymen-8-ol (0.1–0.3%)
α -terpineol (0.1–2.8%)
cuminaldehyde (< 0.1–0.2%)
δ -elemene (0.1–0.3%)
α -cubebene (1.5–5.7%)
cyclosativene (< 0.1–0.2%)
safrole (< 0.1–0.1%)
α -copaene (3.8–14.3%)
β -cubebene (0.2–11.1%)
β -elemene (1.0–9.4%)
β -caryophyllene (1.1–9.5%)
trans-α -bergamotene (< 0.1–0.2%)
α -humulene (0.5–0.9%)
(E)-β -farnesene (< 0.1–0.2%)
allo-aromadendrene (0.2–11.0%)
γ -muurolene (< 0.1–11.5%)
germacrene D (0.1–11.1%)
epi-cubebol (< 0.1–4.6%)
α -muurolene (0.6–1.7%)
β -bisabolene (1.5–2.0)
γ -cadinene (0.1–0.3%)
cubebol (5.6–30.9%)
cis-calamenene (1.0–3.8%)
δ -cadinene (< 0.1–9.5%)
cadina-1, 4-diene (< 0.1–0.2%)
myristicin (< 0.1–0.1%)
(E)-nerolidol (0.1–3.6%)
ledol (< 0.1–0.2%)
caryophyllene oxide (< 0.1–0.1%)
globulol (< 0.1–3.5%)
dillapiole (< 0.1–0.2%)
1-epi-cubenol (0.3–3.5%)
T-muurolol (< 0.1–0.3%)
α -cadinol (0.2–1.0%)
(E)-asarone (0.9–3.7%)
apiole (< 0.1–0.2%)
An oil produced from the dried fruit of P. cubeba, which was purchased at a local market in Trivandrum (Kerala, India), was produced by hydrodistillation in the laboratory by Sumathykutty et al. (1999). Analysis of this oil by GC-FID and GC/MS revealed that it possessed the following composition:
α -pinene (2.2%)
β -pinene (18.2%)
α -phellandrene (0.2%)
δ -3-carene (0.3%)
p-cymene (0.4%)
limonene (2.0%)
γ -terpinene (0.7%)
linalool oxide*f (1.4%)
terpinolene (0.2%)
linalool (1.5%)
myrcenol (0.6%)
dihydrolinalool† (0.1%)
camphor (0.1%)
borneol (0.1%)
terpinen-4-ol (0.1%)
α -terpineol (1.7%)
safrole (0.1%)
thymol (0.1%)
citronellyl acetate (0.5%)
methyl eugenol (2.3%)
α -copaene (0.9%)
β -elemene (7.3%)
β -cubebene (5.6%)
β -caryophyllene (0.4%)
β -copaene (3.3%)
(E)-β -farnesene (0.1%)
α -humulene (0.3%)
allo-aromadendrene (2.3%)
germacrene D (1.5%)
β -bisabolene (3.1%)
δ -cadinene (4.7%)
cubebol (23.6%)
caryophyllene oxide (1.3%)
guaiol (1.0%)
isocedrol (0.2%)
cedrol (0.3%)
β -eudesmol (2.4%)
α -cadinol (0.9%)
β -bisabolol (1.0%)
(Z, Z)- farnesol (0.6%)
(E, Z) - farnesol (0.1%)
*correct isomer not identified
f furanoid form
†does not occur naturally
In addition, trace amounts (< 0.05%) of α -thujene, 1,4-cineole, (E)-β -ocimene, α -fenchyl alcohol, trans-carveol, neral, geraniol, geranial, a sabinyl acetate isomer, α -terpinyl acetate, β -cedrene, cedrene epoxide, (Z, E)- farnesol and (E, E)- farnesol were also characterized in this oil.
Dried P. cubeba berries that were purchased from a local market in Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh, India) were ground to 100 mesh and subjected to 4hr hydrodistillation to yield a colorless oil in 2.3% yield. Analysis of the oil using GC-FID and GC/MS by Singh et al. (2007) revealed that the oil possessed the following composition:
α -thujene (4.5%)
α -pinene (4.1%)
sabinene (19.4%)
β -pinene (0.7%)
myrcene (0.3%)
α -phellandrene (0.2%)
p-cymene (1.0%)
β -phellandrene (5.9%)
γ -terpinene (0.2%)
cis-sabinene hydrate (0.9%)
trans-sabinene hydrate (0.5%)
linalool (4.9%)
terpinene-4-ol (0.9%)
δ -elemene (0.3%)
α -cubebene (4.1%)
α -copaene (8.8%)
β -cubebene (18.3%)
β -elemene (0.6%)
α -gurjunene (0.3%)
β -caryophyllene (3.7%)
aromadendrene (0.1%)
α -guaiene (0.2%)
α -humulene (0.9%)
allo-aromadendrene (3.1%)
γ -amorphene (2.0%)
germacrene D (2.6%)
zingiberene (0.1%)
bicyclogermacrene (1.5%)
cubebol*(0.2%)
α -muurolene (0.6%)
cubebol (4.7%)
γ -cadinene (0.9%)
trans-cadina-1(2), 4-diene (0.2%)
germacrene D (0.1%)
spathulenol (0.4%)
caryophyllene oxide (0.3%)
viridiflorol (0.3%)
*correct isomer not identified
In addition, trace amounts (< 0.1%) of camphene, δ -3-carene, α -terpinene, 1,8-cineole, terpinolene, camphor and isoledene were also characterized in this oil.
Singh et al. (2008) purchased a second lot of P. cubeba berries from the same local market. These in turn were hydrodistilled after grinding to yield an oil that was subjected to analysis using GC-FID and GC/MS. This oil was found to contain, the following:
α -thujene (1.9%)
α -pinene (1.9%)
sabinene (9.6%)
β -pinene (0.6%)
myrcene (0.2%)
α -phellandrene (0.1%)
p-cymene (0.4%)
limonene (0.5%)
β -phellandrene (1.7%)
1,8-cineole (1.3%)
γ -terpinene (0.1%)
cis-sabinene hydrate (0.7%)
linalool (3.2%)
δ -terpineol (0.6%)
camphor (0.1%)
terpinen-4-ol (1.0%)
α -terpineol (0.3%)
δ -elemene (0.1%)
α -cubebene (3.9%)
α -copaene (7.4%)
geranyl acetate (0.1%)
β -cubebene (18.9%)
β -elemene (1.4%)
α -gurjunene (0.7%)
cis-α -bergamotene (0.3%)
β -caryophyllene (5.3%)
aromadendrene (0.1%)
α -guaiene (0.1%)
α -humulene (2.0%)
allo-aromadendrene (4.1%)
cadina-1(6), 4-diene (0.1%)
γ -muurolene (2.4%)
germacrene D (4.7%)
β -selinene (0.6%)
trans-muurola-4(14),5-diene (0.8%)
bicyclogermacrene (1.5%)
4-epi-cubebol (1.9%)
α -muurolene (0.6%)
germacrene A (0.2%)
cubebol (13.3%)
δ -cadinene (0.2%)
cis-calamenene (0.7%)
germacrene B (0.3%)
(E)-nerolidol (0.7%)
spathulenol (0.5%)
caryophyllene oxide (0.6%)
gleenol (0.1%)
viridiflorol (0.3%)
1-epi-cubenol (0.4%)
isospathulenol (0.1%)
Trace amounts (< 0.1%) of camphene, δ -3-carene, α -terpinene, terpinolene, borneol, cryptone, cuminaldehyde and isoledene were also characterized in this oil. The authors also produced extracts of the same batch of cubeb using diethyl ether, ethanol, petroleum-benzene, chloroform and methanol. The volatiles in amounts of 0.1% or greater characterized in these extracts are listed in T-1.
The percentage volatiles in each of the extracts was 79.6% (diethyl ether), 83.0% (ethanol), 86.6% (petroleum-benzene), 70.1% (chloroform) and 53.4% (methanol).
An oil of P. cubeba that was produced in 1.7% yield by Ismaniar (2013) was analyzed using GC/MS as the method of analysis. The oil was found to contain sativene (8.7%), spathulenol (27.1%), and germacrene D (7.5%) as major constituents.

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