Chemical composition of essential oils of Algerian Myrtus communis and chiral analysis of their leave volatiles

• Published in: The Journal of essential oil research Vol. 25; no. 5; pp. 402 - 408
• Main Authors: Foudil-Cherif, Y, Boutarene, N, Yassaa, N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 01.10.2013
• Subjects: alpha-pinene; branches; chemical composition; chiral analysis; cineole; enantiomers; essential oil; essential oils; fruits; gas chromatography; GC/MS; headspace analysis; HS-SPME; leaves; mass spectrometry; monoterpenes; Myrtus communis; p-cymene; solid phase microextraction
• ISSN: 2163-8152; 1041-2905; 2163-8152
• DOI: 10.1080/10412905.2013.828323

The essential oils of leaves and twigs of Myrtus communis with black and white fruits were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The leaves were rich in essential oil (0.77–0.94%) than the twigs (0.05%). More than forty compounds were identified in each leaf essential oils, the major compounds were α-pinene/1,8-cineol with different percent compositions (33.4/42.4%) and (39.3/33.3%) in M. communis with white and black fruits, respectively. Thirty-eight compounds were identified in the essential oils of the twigs among which the main compounds were p-cymene (17.7%), α-pinene (10.8%), 1,8-cineol (13.5%), and limonene (10.7%). While the volatile fraction of M. communis leaves having white fruits extracted by HS-SPME was characterized by high content of limonene (almost 29%), those with black fruits were dominated by cis-β-terpineol (ca. 29%). The enantiomeric ratio of monoterpenes present in the headspace of all M. communis samples determined using enantioselective gas chromatography/mass spectrometry showed (+)/(−)-α-pinene ratio close to 95/5% and exclusive presence of (+)-antipode for limonene.