Seed (Fruit) Essential Oils of Angelica archangelica L. Growing Wild in Lithuania, The

Abstract

Angelica archangelica L. seeds (fruits) were collected in three habitats in 2004 and 2005. Monoterpene hydrocarbons (59.3-82.9%) comprised the largest part of the seed oils. One hundred and five identified constituents made up 84.6-95.7% of the oils. The oils of ripe seeds were rich in β-phellandrene (33.6-63.4%). α-Pinene (4.2-15.8%) and sabinene (20.4%) were the second major constitutents in oils. Other main components of ripe seed oils were α-phellandrene, myrcene and germacrene D. The amounts of β-phellandrene decreased from 57.0-63.4% to 39.0-41.3% during the storage of the seeds for twelve months. The composition of the seed embryo oil differed from those of the ripe seeds. The dominant compounds were myrcene (21.8%), α-pinene (13.2%), sabinene (8.4%) and zingiberene (7.7%). The seed embryo oil contained about twice higher amount of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons. Only 5.2% of β-phellandrene was present in the seed embryo oil.

KeyWord Index

Angelica archangelica, Apiaceae, seed embryo, essential oil composition, myrcene, α-pinene, sabinene, zingiberene.

Introduction

Essential oils of seeds (fruits) and roots of Angelica archangelica are used for healing purposes, spice and fragrance component in perfumery and cosmetics (1-5). The above oils exhibited antispasmodic, stimulant, carminative, diuretic, nervine, tonic and some odier activities (1-4). Angelica oils are used as flavoring agents in most food categories and in alcoholic drinks, especially liquors (2).

Only two species of genus Angelica, Angelica archangelica L. and Angelica silvestris L. are growing wild in Lidiuania (6).

β-Phedandrene (≤ 87.4%) or both α- and β-phellandrenes prevailed in former investigated seed ods and in hexane extracts of A. archangelica seeds (7-14). β-Phedandrene was the dominant constituent in several root ods, but its content was far lower (28.2%) than those in seed oils (7-18). The volatile constituents were investigated in the oils obtained from different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers and seeds) of A. archangelica of Romanian origin (7). β-Phedandrene prevailed only in flowers (68.3%) and seed oils (87.4%). Among the five main constituents of the seed oils from Central Station of Seed Production in Bydgoszcz (Poland) were β-phellandrene (59.4%), α-pinene (2.9%), α-phellandrene (2.3%), cryptone (2.6%) and α-copaene (3.3%) (13). The amounts of monoterpene hydrocarbons in the hexane extract of the above seeds were close to those in the seed oil obtained by steam distiUation, but the content of α-copaene was markedly decreased. Hexane did not extract cryptone from angelica seeds (13). Monoterpene hydrocarbons in the hexane extracts were determined for wild angelica seeds in Finland (11). β-Phellandrene (66.4-82.1%) dominated in all the hexane extracts. The contents of the other four main constituents depended on growing locality. α-Pinene (8.3%), α-phellandrene (3.8%), myrcene (3.4%) and limonene (2.0%) were found in the extract of seeds from West Lapland. Sabinene (11.3%), α-pinene (9.4%), myrcene (7.3%) and α-phellandrene (3.1%) were characterized in the extract of seeds from East Lapland. The seed od, contained α-pinene (10.3%), sabinene (5.4%), α-phellandrene (4.3%) and myrcene (4.0%) as the other main constituents, while β-phellandrene, was dominant in the oils obtained from samples collected in North Lapland (11). The dominant constituent in oils of A. archangelica seeds collected in France (12) was β-phellandrene (64.9-76.0%) and other main components were α-pinene (2.3-6.6%), α-phellandrene (1.9-3.4%) andlimonene (1.8-2.6%). In some oils myrcene was the second main constituent. All above monoterpene hydrocarbons were reported to be bioactive (19-23). α-Pinene, limonene, myrcene and both phellandrenes exhibited different antimicrobial properties. The above monoterpenes and sabinene play marked role in insects life as repellents, deterrents, pheromones, kairomones and other bioactive compounds (19). β-Phellandrene may be an antagonist, reducing the attractiveness for insects of other terpenoids (19). Antitumour activity has been observed for limonene, myrcene and both piñenes (19,20). Limonene hads been reported to exhibit an anticancer activity (19-21). α-Pinene, β-phellandrene, limonene and myrcene have been found to inhibit spore germination and/or mycelium growth of several samples (22). Myrcene was reported to inhibit lipid peroxidation in rat brain homogenates in the presence of ferric ions (22).

The present investigation deals with the composition of the seed embryo and die seed essential ods of wild A. archangelica from Lithuania.

Experimental

The samples of angelica (A. archangelica L.) were collected from three habitats: A (Vilnius district), B (Svencionys), C (Prienai) in 2004-2005. Voucher specimens have been deposited in the Herbarium of the Institute of Botany (BILAS numbers: A - 65214, B - 65213, and C - 65212). The ods were prepared by hydrodistiUation (2 h) of 5 g seed embryos (A1), 10 g airdried ripe seeds (A2 - A4, B, C), and of twelve months stored ripe seeds (A5 - A6) in apparatus according to (24). The ratio of seeds and water was 1:4. Essential ods were collected in 2 mL of die mixture of hexane: diethyl ether (1:1). The oil A6 was prepared without solvent. The yields of die essential oil of ripe seeds (0.8-1.4%) were obtained using 100 g of seeds and expressed in v/w% on dried weight.