Chemical Composition—The wood of the root yields 1 to 2 per cent. of volatile oil,[1999] and the root-bark twice as much. The stem and leaves of the tree contain but a very small quantity. The oil, which as found in commerce is all manufactured in America, has the specific odour of sassafras, and is colourless, yellow, or reddish-brown, according, as the distillers assert, to the character of the root employed. As the colour of the oil does not affect its flavour and market value, no effort is made to keep separate the different varieties of root.
Oil of Sassafras has a sp. gr. of 1·087 to 1·094, increasing somewhat by age (Procter). When cooled, it deposits crystals of Safrol or Sassafras Camphor. This body, which we obtained in the form of hard, four- or six-sided prisms with the odour of sassafras, often attaining more than 4 inches in length and 1 inch in diameter, belongs to the monosymmetric system, as shown by Arzruni.[2000] Safrol, C₁₀H₁₀O₂, liquefies at 8°·5 C. (47° F.), having at 12° C. a sp. gr. of 1·11; it boils at 232° C., and is devoid of rotatory power, nor is it soluble in alkalis. The researches of Grimaux and Ruotte (1869) show the oil to contain nine-tenths of its weight of Safrol which they observed only in the liquid state.
Another constituent of sassafras oil has been termed by Grimaux and Ruotte Safrene; it boils at 155° to 157° C., has a sp. gr. of 0·834 and the formula C₁₀H₁₆. It has the same odour as safrol, but deviates the plane of polarization to the right.
It was further found by the same observers that the crude oil contains an extremely small quantity of a substance of the phenol class, which can be removed by caustic lye and separated by an acid.
We succeeded in obtaining this substance by using that portion of the crude oil from which the safrol had separated. The phenol remains in the mother-liquor after it has again been cooled and has afforded a new crystallization of safrol. The phenol thus obtained assumes a beautiful greenish blue hue on addition of an alcoholic solution of perchloride of iron.
The Sassarubin and Sassafrin of Hare (1837) are impure products of the decomposition of sassafras oil by means of sulphuric acid.
The bark and also to some extent the wood, in both cases of the root, contain tannic acid which produces a blue colour with persalts of iron. By oxidation, we must suppose, it is converted into the red colouring matter deposited in the bark and, in smaller quantity, in the heartwood of old trees. The young wood is nearly white. The said red substance probably agrees with that to which Reinsch in 1845 and 1846 gave the name of Sassafrid, and is doubtless analogous to cinchona-red and ratanhia-red. Reinsch obtained it to the extent of 9·2 per cent.
Production and Commerce—Baltimore is the chief mart for sassafras root, bark and oil, which are brought thither from within a circuit of 300 miles. The roots are extracted from the ground by the help of levers, partly barked and partly sent untouched to the market, or are cut up into chips for distillation on the spot. Of the bark as much as 100,000 lb. were received in Baltimore in 1866. The quantity of oil annually produced previous to the war is estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 lb. There are isolated small distillers in Pennsylvania and West New Jersey, who are allowed by the owners of a “sassafras wilderness” to remove from the ground the roots and stumps without charge. Sassafras root is not medicinal in the United States, the more aromatic root-bark being reasonably preferred.[2001]
Uses—Sassafras is reputed to be sudorific and stimulant, but in British practice it is only given in combination with sarsaparilla and guaiacum. Shavings of the wood are sold to make Sassafras Tea.
In America the essential oil is used to give a pleasant flavour to effervescing drinks, tobacco and toilet soaps.[2002]