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Aerial parts of northern bayberry (Morella pensylvanica (Mirbel) Kartesz) from the Magdalen Islands were submitted to steam distillation to evaluate both yield and composition of essential oil and hydrosol. It yielded 0.15% (m/m) of a pleasantly scented essential oil featuring a different composition than that reported in Connecticut. This oil appeared to be rich in (-)-α-bisabolol, β-caryophyllene, linalyl acetate, geraniol and γ-terpinene. It also contained a new α-bisabolol derivative that was identified as 2,2,6-trimethyl-6-(4-methylcyclohex-3-en-1-yl)tetrahydro-2H-pyran, and named Magdalen ether. The hydrosol contained 160 mg/L of aromatic compounds among which α-bisabolol, linalool, α-terpineol and α-bisabolol oxide B, and a few minor phenolic compounds. The oil was tested for its cytotoxicity in vitro on WS-1 human fibroblasts and was shown to be four times less cytotoxic than the generally recognized as safe α-bisabolol, but did not show anti-inflammatory properties through inhibition of nitrous oxide production by murine macrophages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the fruits and stems ofHeracleum maximumBartram, a common Apiaceae found throughout northern North America, have been traditionally consumed as spice and food by American First Nations and settlers. As both parts of the plant bear a distinctive scent, they have been submitted to volatile constituent extraction and their essential oils were studied by GC–FID and GC–MS. The fruits’ oil was found to be mostly constituted of aliphatic esters, with octyl acetate (65.6%) as main constituent, while the stems yielded a generally terpenic oil, dominated by limonene (45.2%). These results were in line with data for otherHeracleumspecies, and constitute the first study of the volatile constituents ofH. maximum. The observation of several octadecenyl acetates as trace compounds in the stems’ oil allowed for the comprehensive identification of these uncommon and closely related isomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three essential oil samples obtained by steam distillation from the rhizomes of Anthriscus sylvestris (L.) Hoffm. growing in Saguenay (Quebec, Canada) were found to differ significantly from the previously reported chemical profile from The Netherlands. The main compounds were β-phellandrene (25.1–66.4%), myrcene (8.7–48.4%), trans-sabinyl acetate (tr-5.6%) and cis-β-ocimene (2.6–4.4%), with an important variability between the three studied samples. The three tested oils contained a total of seventy-one identified compounds, which included elemicin, myristicin and apiole not detected previously in A. sylvestris. The hydrolates contained mainly trans-sabinyl acetate, tiglic acid, carvacrol, 3-methyl-2(5H)-furanone, terpinen-4-ol and elemicin. A total of sixty-five compounds were reported for the first time in the species, along with seven unknown compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 15 years, with the support of a Canadian funding agency, the Universidad Mayor de San Simón, in Bolivia, undertook a large survey of aromatic plants of the South American country. More than a hundred species were studied under various aspects, including the production and characterization of essential oils. As part of this survey, the chemical composition of an essential oil sample obtained from Pentacalia herzogii (Asteraceae) growing wild in the High Valley region of the department of Cochabamba was determined by a combination of GC and GC-MS measurements. α-Pinene was the main constituent of this essential oil (34%), accompanied by limonene (22%) and germacrene D (7.5%) as well as an important fraction of methoxylated monoterpenoids. They were mainly isomers of thymol methyl ether, accounting for 13% of the chromatogram. A new quantitatively important compound (9%) was identified through NMR and chemical synthesis as 4-isopropyl-6-methylbenzo[d][1,3]dioxole, and designated herzogole, alongside the minor related compound 1-isopropyl-2,3-dimethoxy-5-methylbenzene. The monoterpene benzodioxole featured a distinctive green-phenolic aroma which could raise interest for fragrance use. Since these compounds were not known naturally, a biosynthetic mechanism of their formation was proposed and put in perspective to illustrate the metabolic originality of P. herzogii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]