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Quick answer: may chang essential oil, also sold as litsea or Litsea cubeba, is usually steam distilled from the small pepper-like fruits of Litsea cubeba, a tree in the laurel family. It smells sharp, lemony and a little more complex than a simple lemon peel. The oil is typically rich in citral (geranial and neral), with limonene and other terpenes in supporting roles. Tisserand and Young recommend a dermal maximum of 0.8 percent, caution against topical use on children under 2 and on damaged or hypersensitive skin, and note a possible CYP2B6 drug interaction and a teratogenicity concern. They also flag a higher irritation risk in the bath, even when the oil is diluted. May chang is a fragrance oil, not a medicine. Dilute it carefully and do not confuse it with lemongrass or lemon myrtle, which share citral risk but come from different plants.
If you like lemon-scented oils but want something less “peel” and more “sparkling fruit,” may chang is often the bottle people reach for. This article belongs in our essential oils guide and should be used with the essential oil dilution chart. Keep it in the same mental folder as lemongrass and lemon myrtle: related aroma family, strict dilution math.
Sources: Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young, Essential Oil Safety, second edition (2014), Litsea cubeba / may chang profile (pp. 349-350), including constituent sources cited there from B.M. Lawrence and L. Zhu et al.; National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA); National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) aromatherapy overview; Tisserand Institute general safety guidelines. Essential oils are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. Talk with a healthcare provider before use if you are pregnant, nursing, have a medical condition or take medications.
Contents
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What May Chang Essential Oil Is
Litsea cubeba is a tree in the Lauraceae family, the same broad family as cinnamon and camphor trees, though the fruit oil does not smell like cinnamon bark. It is native to parts of China and Southeast Asia and is also called mountain pepper or, in the aromatherapy trade, may chang. Distillers typically steam the fruit. The oil is usually yellow and quite mobile, with a strong, sharp lemon aroma.
Tisserand and Young cite compositional studies that list geranial and neral (together, citral) among the major constituents, along with limonene, methyl heptenone, myrcene, linalool, geraniol and several other monoterpenes. The exact balance varies by origin and batch, but the safety logic stays the same: citral-rich oils need low dermal limits because citral is a known skin sensitizer.
The plant is not lemongrass, not a citrus tree, and not lemon myrtle. Food-grade Litsea cubeba oil sometimes appears in flavor work; that regulatory context is not a green light to swallow a craft-bottle oil as a supplement.
| Feature | May chang essential oil |
|---|---|
| Botanical name | Litsea cubeba |
| Family | Lauraceae |
| Plant part | Typically fruit, steam distilled |
| Aroma | Sharp, complex lemon; less grassy than lemongrass |
| Dominant chemistry | Citral (geranial and neral), plus limonene and other terpenes |
| Dermal maximum (Tisserand and Young, 2nd ed.) | 0.8% |
| Other cautions (same source) | No topical use under age 2; avoid damaged or hypersensitive skin; possible CYP2B6 interaction; teratogenicity caution; higher bath irritation risk |
IUCN assessments have listed Litsea cubeba as Least Concern in at least one evaluation cited on public aromatherapy reference pages, but “least concern” is not a quality grade for a bottle, and local harvesting practices still matter. Buy from vendors who can talk about sourcing without inventing a crisis or a miracle.
How May Chang Smells and How to Blend It
May chang is lemony, bright and a bit more piercing than sweet orange, with a woody or spicy hint that lemon peel often lacks. It can smell cleaner than lemongrass and less candy-intense than lemon myrtle, though all three can fool you in a fast sniff test. One drop leads a blend easily.
It can sit, at very low percentages, with lavender, a soft wood, or a gentle floral. If you already have lemongrass or lemon myrtle in the same formula, you are stacking citral. Add the percentages together and stay under the strictest relevant limit, which may be lower than 0.8 percent if lemon myrtle (0.7 percent) is also in the mix.
Citrus peel oils add their own oxidation and, in some cases, phototoxicity issues. May chang should not inherit bergamot sun rules automatically, but you should not design a beach oil around it either. The main skin problem is aldehyde sensitization, not a request to test the sun.
Safety, Dilution and Baths
Tisserand and Young’s 0.8 percent dermal maximum is the ceiling, not a target. Leave-on body products for healthy adults often feel more comfortable at 0.25 to 0.5 percent. Face products should be weaker or skipped if you already react to citral.
The same profile cautions against topical use on children under 2 and on hypersensitive, diseased or damaged skin, notes a possible interaction with drugs metabolized by CYP2B6, and flags a teratogenicity risk. Pregnancy is a reason to get personal advice, not to “just use one drop.”
Baths deserve a special warning. Tisserand and Young, as summarized in standard safety write-ups of this oil, caution that may chang poses a higher risk of irritation and sensitization in the bath, even if it is solubilized or diluted. The safer choice is to skip the bath entirely and use a measured lotion instead. Never drop neat oil onto bathwater.
Other standing rules: no neat skin use, no casual ingestion, intermittent diffusion with fresh air, child-proof storage, and no closed-room diffusion with pets who cannot leave. See essential oils and pets.
If you become sensitized, you may need to avoid other citral-rich oils as well. That is one reason to stay low from the start.
Dilution Table and Everyday Scent Uses
| Use (healthy adults) | Starting point | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Diffusion | 1 drop, short session | Strong; ventilate |
| Leave-on body product | 0.25% to 0.5%, never above 0.8% | Patch test |
| Face | Often skip, or a trace well below 0.25% | High regret if it irritates |
| Bath | Better to avoid | Higher irritation risk flagged for this oil |
| Cleaning-scent spray | One drop in a properly emulsified mix | Not a registered disinfectant |
| Internal use | Do not self-prescribe | Flavor use is not a medicinal license |
| Children under 2, topical | Do not use | Per Tisserand and Young |
People add may chang to soaps and unscented lotions because the lemon note feels “clean.” A low, weighed dilution can smell pleasant. It does not sanitize a kitchen the way soap, heat or an EPA-registered product can, and it does not treat acne, indigestion or low mood. NCCIH’s aromatherapy overview is the right background: limited evidence for many claims, real risk of side effects.
May Chang vs Lemongrass, Lemon Myrtle and Lemon Peel
Lemongrass comes from a Cymbopogon grass and is also citral-rich, usually with a grassier, sometimes fattier lemon scent. Safety limits are in the same strict neighborhood. Choose based on aroma and then dilute for the oil you actually used.
Lemon myrtle is an Australian leaf oil that can be even more thoroughly dominated by citral, with a slightly lower dermal maximum (0.7 percent) in Essential Oil Safety. It often smells sweeter and more “super lemon” than may chang.
Lemon peel oil is typically limonene-rich, cold-pressed, and a different safety file. If a cheap “may chang” smells like hardware-store lemon cleaner or like oxidized citrus, ask for a GC-MS.
Palmarosa, discussed earlier in this batch, is geraniol-forward and rosy, not a citral twin, even though all of these plants can appear in the same “fresh” section of a catalog.
Buying, Storage and Quality
Look for Litsea cubeba, fruit, steam distilled, a stated origin when possible, and a batch GC-MS showing citral as major constituents. China is a long-standing producer; other regional sources exist. The oil should not be priced like filler solvent, and it should not be priced like genuine melissa without a reason.
Citral oxidizes. Buy amounts you will use, close the bottle, store it cool and dark, and keep it away from children. The bright lemon smell is tempting to taste; it is not a candy.
If a seller claims may chang will “detox the liver,” “kill viruses” or “replace antidepressants,” leave. A well-made fruit oil does not need that script.
Measuring 0.8 Percent, and What to Do If Skin Reacts
Weight is kinder than drop lore. The Tisserand and Young dermal maximum is 0.8 gram of may chang in 100 grams of finished product. For a 50 gram lotion, that is no more than 0.4 gram of essential oil, and a 0.4 percent product would use 0.2 gram. Make a tiny, labeled pre-dilution if your scale is happier with slightly larger amounts, then stir a measured portion of that pre-dilution into unscented cream. Write the final percentage and the date on the jar.
If skin stings, turns red, or itches, remove the product with a plain carrier oil or mild soap and water, and do not “tough it out.” Irritation often settles after you stop exposure. An allergic reaction can take longer and may mean you need to avoid citral-rich oils from then on. Seek medical care for swelling, widespread rash, breathing difficulty or any reaction that worries you, and bring the labeled bottle.
Do not jump to a second citral oil to “see if it was just that batch.” Give your skin a break. Retire the product. If you later try a different lemony oil, start even lower, or choose a non-citral scent such as a modest lavender dilution. A notebook with dates, percentages and reactions is more useful than memory when you are shopping months later.
Keep experimental blends off other people, especially children, and off pets. Your tolerance is not a household rule.
A written formula is worth the thirty seconds it takes to prevent an accidental overdose of citral. Note the carrier, the percentage, and every citral oil in the blend, then keep that slip with the bottle. Future blends stay safer when you can see what you already used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is may chang the same as litsea cubeba?
Yes. May chang is the common aromatherapy name for Litsea cubeba essential oil, usually from the fruit.
What is the safe dilution?
Tisserand and Young recommend a dermal maximum of 0.8 percent. Many leave-on products are more comfortable below that. Patch test, and stay lower on the face.
Can I use may chang in the bath?
It is safer to skip baths with this oil. Safety references flag a higher irritation and sensitization risk in the bath, even when the oil is diluted or solubilized.
Is may chang OK during pregnancy?
Essential Oil Safety notes a teratogenicity concern. Ask your clinician rather than experimenting.
How is it different from lemongrass?
Different plants (a laurel-family fruit vs a grass), related citral-rich chemistry, and a lemon scent that is often sharper and less grassy. Dilution stays strict for both.
Does may chang go bad?
Yes. Air, heat and time can oxidize citral and raise irritation risk. Date the bottle and retire old oil from skin use.
