Sulphur-containing compounds in the essential oil of Ferula alliacea roots and their mass spectral fragmentation patterns.

ContextGC-MS analysis is the best way to characterize volatile sulphur-containing compounds.Ferula(Apiaceae) is a genus of perennial herbs. Due to the occurrence of essential oils or oleoresins in theFerulaspecies, these plants usually possess strong aromatic scent. Terpenoid compounds were the most abundant constituents ofFerulaoils, however, in some ofFerulaspecies, the essential oils were dominated by volatile sulphur-containing compounds. ObjectivesFerula alliaceaBoiss. is considered one of the sources of the oleo-gum-resin asafoetida. In this study, we analyzed the hydrodistilled essential oil from its dried roots and provide new data about retention indices and mass fragmentation patterns of some volatile sulphur-containing compounds that are useful for future studies on this class of compounds. Materials and methodsThe roots ofF. alliaceawere collected during the flowering stage of plant, from Bezgh, Kashmar to Neishabour road, Khorasan-Razavi province, Iran, in June 2012. The oil was obtained by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger apparatus and analyzed by GC-MS. ResultsThis is the first report on phytochemical analysis ofF. alliacearoots. Seventy-six components, representing 99.5% of the oil, were characterized. The major components were 10-epi-γ-eudesmol (22.3%), valerianol (12.5%), hinesol (8.3%), guaiol (7.3%) andZ-propenyl-sec-butyl trisulphide (6.5%). Predominant mass fragment ions of the identified sulphur-containing compounds are explained in this paper. ConclusionThe volatile oil ofF. alliaceamostly contains oxygenated sesquiterpenes, however, its odour was dominated by sulphur-containing compounds. The most abundant sulphur-containing compound includesZ-propenyl-sec-butyl trisulphide (6.5%). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]