the library

Calamansi

Citrus· citrus

What it is

Calamansi is a small citrus fruit, a hybrid between a mandarin and a kumquat, widely grown in the Philippines.

What it tastes like

On the nose: lavender, citrus, fruity, pine. Among its measured molecules: β-Terpineol, α-terpinene, geranyl acetate, α-phellandrene, sabinene.

Every one of its 16 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.

• octanalaromaaldehydereads as fruity (PubChem)Measured in 40 of 341 ingredients.cite

  0.19% of calamondin whole-fruit oil; not detected ('n.d.') in the kumquat measured beside it in the same table — Chen et al. 2017, Medicines (Table 1, Aldehydes block, row 'octanal', 'Calamondin' column)
• linaloolaromaalcoholreads as spicy, citrus taste (PubChem)Measured in 91 of 341 ingredients.cite

  0.19% of calamondin whole-fruit oil, against 0.13% for kumquat in the same table — Chen et al. 2017, Medicines (Table 1, Alcohols block, row 'linalool', 'Calamondin' column)
• alpha-pinenearomaterpenoidreads as turpentine (PubChem)Measured in 72 of 341 ingredients.cite

  1.41% of calamondin whole-fruit oil, named by the paper among its leading constituents; 1.28% for kumquat in the same table — Chen et al. 2017, Medicines (Table 1, row 'α-pinene', 'Calamondin' column; Results §3.1)
• α-phellandrenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 29 of 341 ingredients.cite

  0.25% of calamondin whole-fruit oil, against 0.18% for kumquat in the same table — Chen et al. 2017, Medicines (Table 1, row 'α-phellandrene', 'Calamondin' column)
• γ‑terpinenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 44 of 341 ingredients.cite

  0.26% of calamondin whole-fruit oil, against 0.12% for kumquat in the same table — Chen et al. 2017, Medicines (Table 1, row 'γ-terpinene', 'Calamondin' column)
• α-terpinenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 16 of 341 ingredients.cite

  1.41 ± 0.02 mg/mL of calamansi peel EO by conventional steam distillation. The paper's own spelling is reproduced verbatim in 'as'; — Zhao et al. 2025, Ultrasonics Sonochemistry (Table 7, Terpenes block, row 12, printed as 'α-Terpilene' (RI 1020, evidently the same peak as α-terpinene -- no other row in the table carries that retention index or a plausible alternative identity), 'SD' column)Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• decanalaromaaldehydereads as citrus (PubChem)Measured in 37 of 341 ingredients.cite

  0.39% of calamondin whole-fruit oil, against 0.08% for kumquat -- calamondin's largest single aldehyde — Chen et al. 2017, Medicines (Table 1, Aldehydes block, row 'decanal', 'Calamondin' column)
• β-TerpineolaromaalcoholMeasured in 5 of 341 ingredients.cite

  0.42% of calamondin whole-fruit oil, against 0.19% for kumquat in the same table — Chen et al. 2017, Medicines (Table 1, row 'β-terpineol', 'Calamondin' column)
• terpinen-4-olaromaalcoholreads as pine (PubChem)Measured in 41 of 341 ingredients.cite

  0.26% of calamondin whole-fruit oil, against 0.15% for kumquat in the same table — Chen et al. 2017, Medicines (Table 1, row '4-terpinenol', 'Calamondin' column)
• terpinolenearomaterpenoidreads as terpene taste (PubChem)Measured in 38 of 341 ingredients.cite

  0.68% of calamondin whole-fruit oil, named by the paper among its leading constituents -- against 0.17% for kumquat, which the paper does NOT name among kumquat's leaders — Chen et al. 2017, Medicines (Table 1, row 'α-terpinolene', 'Calamondin' column; Results §3.1)
• beta-pinenearomaterpenoidreads as terpene (PubChem)Measured in 55 of 341 ingredients.cite

  77.75 ± 2.33 mg/mL of calamansi peel EO by conventional steam distillation -- the second-largest peak, a materially higher relative standing than the whole-fruit primary's 0.39%; both figures are carried rather than reconciled because they are different materials (peel oil vs. whole-fruit oil) and different units (mg/mL vs. %). — Zhao et al. 2025, Ultrasonics Sonochemistry (Table 7, Terpenes block, row 4 'β-Pinene', 'SD' column)Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• alpha-terpineolaromaalcoholreads as floral, lilac (PubChem)Measured in 54 of 341 ingredients.cite

  1.51% of calamondin whole-fruit oil, named by the paper among its leading constituents -- against 0.55% for the kumquat in the same table (nearly three times higher in calamondin) — Chen et al. 2017, Medicines (Table 1, row 'α-terpineol', 'Calamondin' column; Results §3.1)
• sabinenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 32 of 341 ingredients.cite

  17.96 ± 0.44 mg/mL of calamansi peel EO by conventional steam distillation -- the third-largest peak in the table, after D-limonene and β-pinene. PMC5590064's Calamondin column reports this compound as 'n.d.' (not detected) in the whole-fruit oil; both facts are carried, not reconciled -- see notes. — Zhao et al. 2025, Ultrasonics Sonochemistry (Table 7, Terpenes block, row 6 'Sabinene', 'SD' column)Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• limonenearomaterpenoidreads as lemon (PubChem)Measured in 92 of 341 ingredients.cite

  778.24 ± 15.56 mg/mL of calamansi peel EO by conventional steam distillation -- the largest peak in the table; the paper states 'D-limonene as the most abundant' of 139 volatile compounds identified. — Zhao et al. 2025, Ultrasonics Sonochemistry (Table 7 (The content of VOCs in calamansi peel EOs extracted by different methods), Terpenes block, row 1 'D-Limonene', 'SD' (conventional steam distillation) column)Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• myrcenearomaterpenoidMeasured in 68 of 341 ingredients.cite

  54.98 ± 1.08 mg/mL of calamansi peel EO by conventional steam distillation -- the third-largest peak. — Zhao et al. 2025, Ultrasonics Sonochemistry (Table 7, Terpenes block, row 3 'β-Myrcene', 'SD' column)Measurement only — the source text is licensed facts-only.
• geranyl acetatearomaterpenoidreads as lavender (PubChem)Measured in 24 of 341 ingredients.cite

  0.40% of calamondin whole-fruit oil -- the last compound the paper names among its leading constituents; 0.36% for kumquat in the same table — Chen et al. 2017, Medicines (Table 1, row 'geranyl acetate', 'Calamondin' column; Results §3.1)