Essential oil composition of Lavandula angustifolia Mill. cultivated in the mid hills of Uttarakhand, India.

The essential oil content in the inflorescence of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) cultivated in the mid hills of Uttarakhand was found to be 2.8 % based on the fresh weight. The oil was analysed by capillary GC and GC- MS. Thirty seven constituents, representing 97.81 % of the oil were identified. The major components of the oil were linalyl acetate (47.56 %), linalool (28.06 %), lavandulyl acetate (4.34 %) and α-terpineol (3.75 %). The quality of lavender oil produced in India was found to be comparable to that produced in Hungary, France, China, Bulgaria, Russia and the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]