Most people who type "spilanthol extract" into Google have just read it on the back of a serum or a lip balm. In those products the spilanthol comes from Acmella oleracea, a small Brazilian herb with yellow and red flower buds. The same molecule also sits in the root of chilcuague (Heliopsis longipes), a plant from the Sierra Gorda of Central Mexico. HPLC testing has measured it at 6.9 to 8.5 mg per gram of root. In a mouth spray you meet it on the tongue and mouth instead of on your face.
What is spilanthol extract?
Spilanthol is an alkamide, a family of plant compounds built from a fatty acid chain joined to an amine. Its chemical name is (2E,6Z,8E)-N-isobutyl-2,6,8-decatrienamide, formula C14H23NO. A 2016 review in the Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia (Barbosa, de Carvalho, Smith and Sabaa-Srur, "Spilanthol: occurrence, extraction, chemistry and biological activities") lists the solvents labs use to pull it out of plant material: methanol, ethanol, hexane and supercritical CO2.
A "spilanthol extract" is any of those liquids, made from a plant that carries the compound. On a cosmetics label it nearly always means Acmella. The same review names several commercial cosmetic ingredients built on it, and the "botox-like" line you see in serum ads comes from that Acmella cosmetics trade.
Spilanthol and affinin are the same molecule
Two names grew up for one compound. Work on the Mexican root tends to call it affinin. Work on Acmella calls it spilanthol, after Spilanthes, the genus name Acmella oleracea used to carry. Barbosa and colleagues state it plainly: spilanthol "is also known as affinin." Read a Mexican paper on chilcuague and you will see affinin. Read a Brazilian paper on jambu and you will see spilanthol. Same structure, same formula.
“Oh wow, the saliva flow.”
Which spilanthol plant is which
The 2016 review lists spilanthol in Heliopsis longipes and in several Acmella species, including A. oleracea, A. ciliata, A. oppositifolia, A. radicans, A. paniculata and A. uliginosa. All of them belong to the daisy family, Asteraceae. Two plants account for almost everything you will find for sale.
- Acmella oleracea. Called jambu in northern Brazil, and also buzz buttons, toothache plant, paracress and eyeball plant. Vanderbilt University's garden database notes the compound is found in the flowers, and that chewing a flower head brings a strong tingle and a rush of saliva. Barbosa and colleagues also find it in the leaves and stems, and note the plant is eaten as a spice and a food in northern Brazil.
- Heliopsis longipes. Chilcuague, also sold as golden root or raíz de oro. Here the compound lives underground.
Heliopsis longipes extract comes from the root
In chilcuague, affinin sits in the root and nowhere else. A 2020 study in PeerJ by Buitimea-Cantúa, Marsch-Martinez, Ríos-Chavez, Méndez-Bravo and Molina-Torres found that the alkamides "accumulate in the roots but are not present in the vegetative aerial tissue." The same paper reports that affinin makes up over 90% of the total alkamide content in well-developed roots. Their plants were collected in 2014 at Puerto de Tablas, in Xichú municipality, Sierra Gorda, Guanajuato.
So in a mature chilcuague root, affinin is close to the whole alkamide story. The root also carries other alkamides and 28 volatile compounds.
The root has a long history in Mexican kitchens and homes. Mexican ethnobotanists (Cilia-López and colleagues) recorded people chewing it and holding it against a sore tooth and the gums, cooking with it as a spice, soaking it in alcohol to rub on tired muscles, and using it as an insecticide. You can read more on the plant, its names and where it grows in our chilcuague guide.
What spilanthol feels like on the tongue and mouth
Barbosa and colleagues describe the sensory profile in four words: pungency, tingling, numbing and mouth-watering. In practice, with a chilcuague extract, it goes like this. A bright electric buzz spreads across the tongue and mouth within a few seconds. Then the mouth waters fast, more than you expect. After that a clean, fresh feeling stays for a good while.
One customer filmed a first spray for a reaction video. The words, a few seconds in, were "Oh wow, the saliva flow." People use it before a meeting, after coffee, on a drive, or before training when they want something sharp to wake the mouth up.
Why a whole-root extract in a spray
Spilanthol in a face serum is one ingredient among many, mixed into a cream or gel and made to be spread on skin. You never taste it. Raw chilcuague root sits at the other end. A dried root is hard to portion, it sits open to air and light in its bag, and nobody wants roots rattling in a jacket pocket.
A whole-root extract keeps the full root profile: the affinin, the other alkamides and the volatile compounds that give the taste its shape. Dragon Breath is made that way. The root is wild-harvested in Central Mexico, from growth zones the Mara team selects with the help of local elders. It is dual-extracted in organic solutions and bottled in Miron violet glass, which keeps light off the extract and adds significant longevity to its quality and potency.
The spray format is what makes it an everyday thing. The 50 ml bottle fits in a pocket and holds 250+ sprays. One spray is enough to feel it. The extract stays sealed between uses, away from air and light, which loose root and powder can't offer. If you are weighing it against an Acmella tincture, our spilanthes tincture comparison covers the differences side by side.
Dragon Breath – Chilcuague Extract
50 ml mouth spray. Wild-harvested chilcuague root, dual-extracted. 250+ sprays.
Add to bagStart with one spray into the mouth. Once you know the feeling, go up to five. The taste is earthy and a little peppery for a second, then the tingle takes over. It is vegan, gluten free, sugar free and non-GMO.
Dragon Breath considerations
If you're pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or allergic to plants in the daisy family, ask your doctor before using it.
Questions people ask
Is spilanthol the same as affinin?
Yes. Both names refer to (2E,6Z,8E)-N-isobutyl-2,6,8-decatrienamide. Affinin is the name used in Mexican work on chilcuague, and spilanthol is the name used for Acmella.
What plant does spilanthol come from?
Mainly Acmella oleracea (jambu, buzz buttons) and Heliopsis longipes (chilcuague). In Acmella it is found in the flower heads and leaves. In chilcuague it is found in the root, at 6.9 to 8.5 mg per gram.
What does spilanthol taste like?
Earthy and peppery for a moment, then a buzzing tingle across the tongue and mouth, a fast rush of saliva and a fresh feeling that lingers.
How much affinin is in chilcuague root?
Chilcuague root is measured at 6.9 to 8.5 mg of affinin per gram, and affinin makes up over 90% of the alkamides in a well-developed root (Buitimea-Cantúa and colleagues, 2020). Dragon Breath is made from that root.
