Chemical compositions of the essential oils and headspace volatiles of seseli peucedanoides plant parts

Abstract

The chemical compositions of the essential oils of Seseli peucedanoides (M.Bieb.) Koso-Pol. inflorescences and leaves, isolated by hydrodistillation, and headspace volatiles, obtained by the static headspace method, were analyzed in detail by gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (MS). In total, 74 constituents were identified, representing more than 98% of the observed GC peaks. The number of identified essential oil components obtained from the inflorescences was 63 while for the leaf essential oil it was 46. A much smaller number of compounds, 26 for inflorescences and 21 for leaves, were detected in the headspace samples. In both essential oils the most abundant compounds were the same, (E)-caryophyllene and germacrene D, only in different proportions. The main components in the headspace specimens were α-pinene and (E)-β-ocimene with (E)-caryophyllene and (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol also determined in significant percentages. The major class of compounds identified in the investigated essential oils was hydrocarbon sesquiterpenes with a share of over 80%, while the most dominant class of the headspace volatiles was hydrocarbon monoterpenes, which contribute slightly less than 80% of the total.