Alanroot oil is distilled from the root of the elecampane plant, inula helenium. The root is thick, branching and mucilaginous, and has a bitter taste and a camphoraceous odour with sweet floral (similar to violet) undertones.
Besides the storage polysaccharide inulin (C6H12O6[C6H10O5]n), a polymer of fructose, the root contains helenin (C15H20O2), a phytochemical compound consisting of alantolactone and isoalantolactone.