Seasonal variations in the content and composition of essential oil from Zanthoxylum piperitum

Abstract

Seasonal variations in the profile and concentrations of essential oil in Zanthoxylum piperitum were investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Seasonal changes in the percentages of the main constituents of the essential oil of both leaves and fruits from Z. piperitum varied. Variations in essential oil yield and the amount of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in leaves and fruits at different developmental stages were significant. The characteristic content of essential oil in leaves was determined mainly due to the content of monoterpenes, and that in fruits was determined largely due to the sesquiterpenes. Twenty-nine compounds in the oil from Z. piperitum leaves were detected; the major compounds were β-phellandrene (26.90%), citronella (15.32%), β-myrcene (3.24%), α-pinene (2.79%), trans-caryophyllene (2.66%), and fanesyl acetate (2.30%). The highest yield of oil (43.89%) in Z. piperitum leaves was obtained in May but decreased gradually beginning in June. The yield of essential oil from Z. piperitum leaves during early periods was higher than that during later periods and usually decreased from early maturation stages to subsequent stages. However, in contrast to leaves, the oil yield in Z. piperitum fruit increased in June, and oil yield later in the season was higher than that earlier in the season. These results indicate that the essential oil produced from Z. piperitum leaves at the early developmental stages was stored in leaves, and might be transferred to fruit at the final developmental stages. © The Ecological Society of Korea.