Search

Roots of the Himalayan Peony (Paeonia emodiRoyle) have been used as a traditional medicine for epilepsy since long back. In this study, hydrodistilled essential oil of the fresh roots ofP. emodi, collected from western Himalaya was investigated using gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR,1H&13C). Altogether, twenty-four constituents, forming 97.4% of the total oil composition were identified. Major constituents of the essential oil were salicylaldehyde (85.5%),cis-myrtanal (4.9%), myrtenal (1.8%),trans-myrtanol (1.6%), and nopinone (1.4%). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first detailed report onP. emodiroot essential oil composition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mentha longifolia(L.) L. (family: Lamiaceae), commonly known as wild mint, is an extremely variable perennial and strong aromatic herb. The hydrodistilled essential oil ofM. longifoliapopulation growing wildly in high altitudes of Western-Himalayan region was analyzed using gas chromatography/flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of fifty-five constituents, forming 97.5 % of the total oil composition were identified. The oil was characterised by high amount of oxygenated monoterpenes (74.0 %) and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (18.0 %). The characteristic constituents of the oil weretrans- piperitone epoxide (48.7 %), piperitenone oxide (21.2 %), germacrene D (9.8 %), (E)-caryophyllene (2.3 %), 2- hydroxy piperitone (1.6 %), α-humulene (1.5 %), thymol (1.4 %), and α-longipinene (1.0 %). The essential oil composition of the presently studiedM. longifoliapopulation differed considerably, especially intrans-piperitone epoxide content with earlier reports from India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.), family Lamiaceae is an important perennial culinary and medicinal plant cultivated in temperate regions of Asia, Europe and America. The hydrodistilled volatile oils derived from leaf, flower and stem of H. officinalis, collected from Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India (Western-Himalaya) were investigated by gas chromatography (GC–FID) and GC–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Essential oil yield varied from 0.22% to 4.4% in the different parts of the plant. Fifty-seven constituents, representing 99.8% of the leaf oil composition; 44 constituents, representing 99.4% of the flower oil composition and 57 constituents, comprising 88.4% of the stem oil composition were identified. Major constituents of the oils were cis-pinocamphone (49.7–57.7%), pinocarvone (5.5–24.9%), β-pinene (5.7–9.3%), 1,8-cineole (2.9–8.0%), β-phellandrene (1.8–3.2%), myrtenyl methyl ether (2.7–3.0%), sabinene (0.8–1.9%), isopimara-9(11),15-diene (<0.05–1.9%), myrtenol (1.4–1.7%), myrcene (0.5–1.3%), and trans-pinocamphone (<0.05–1.3%). The comparative results clearly indicated that the leaf and stem oil compositions were quite similar in terms of cis-pinocamphone and pinocarvone content. However, the flower oil composition could be differentiated from the leaf and stem oils by the presence of a higher amount of pinocarvone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The walnut tree (Juglans regia L.), commonly known as ‘Akhrot’ in India, is a valuable tree has a long history of medicinal use to treat a wide range of health complaints. To explore the diversity in essential oil yield and composition of J. regia, leaves were collected during spring season from 28 populations growing in western Himalaya. Comparative results showed considerable variations in the essential oil yield and composition of J. regia leaves. The essential oil yield varied from 0.02% to 0.12% in fresh leaves of the different populations of J. regia. Analysis of the essential oils by GC/FID and GC/MS and the subsequent classification by statistical analysis resulted in three clusters with significant variations in their terpenoid composition. Altogether, 70 constituents, representing 83.2–98.0% of the total oil composition, were identified and quantified. Major components of the essential oils were (E)-caryophyllene (1.4–47.9%), β-pinene (4.5–39.5%), germacrene D (5.0–23.3%), α-pinene (1.5–18.1%), α-humulene (1.1–11.8%), α-zingiberene (0.1–11.3%), α-copaene (0.0–10.1%), limonene (0.8–8.6%), caryophyllene oxide (0.1–8.6%), ar-curcumene (0.0–7.2%), δ-cadinene (0.3–6.7%), (E)-β-farnesene (0.0–5.9%), 1,8-cineole (<0.0–5.4%), γ-curcumene (0.0–4.2%), and methyl salicylate (0.1–4.0%). This is the first report on leaf volatile oil composition of J. regia populations from western Himalaya. Out of the 70 identified constituents, over 25 were described for the first time for J. regia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]