Essential Oil of Stachys pilifera Benth. from Iran, The

Journal of Essential Oil Research: JEOR, May/Jun 2004 by Sefidkon, F, Shaabani, A

Abstract

The essential oil isolated by steam distillation from the aerial parts of Stachys pilifera Benth. was analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS. Among the 39 compounds identified, the major components were myrtenyl acetate (47.4%) and ar-curcumene (6.8%).

Key Word Index

Stachys pilifera, Lamiaceae, essential oil composition, myrtenyl acetate.

Plant Name

Stachys pilifera Benth.

Source

Plant material was collected from Shiraz (Fars province, south of Iran) at full flowering stage. A specimen has been deposited in the Herbarium of Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands (TARI).

Plant Part

Dried aerial parts (80 g) were steam distilled for 90 min in an all-glass apparatus to produce the oil in yield of 0.25% w/ w. The sample oil was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and stored in sealed vials at a low temperature before analysis.

Previous work

The Stachys genus contains 34 species, which are found wild in different regions of Iran (1), 13 of which are endemic. One of this endemic species is Stachys pilifera. According to our literature search, the oil of S. pilifera has not been the subject of previous study.

Present Work

The oil from the aerial parts of Stychys pilifera at full flowering stage was analyzed by GC (9A - Shimadzu) and GC/MS (Varian 3400), column (DB-I, 60 m � 0.25 mm fused silica capillary column, film thickness 0.25 �m) by temperature program 50�-250�C at a rate of 4�C/min, (injection temperature: 260�C, carrier gas: helium); ionization energy in mass was 70 eV; mass range 40-300 amu; and scan time L s. The list of the constituents identified, representing more than 85% of the oil, can be seen in Table I, in order of their elution from DB-1 column.

The constituents were identified by comparison of their mass spectra with those in the computer library or with authentic compounds. The identifications were confirmed by comparison of their retention indices either with those of authentic compounds or with data in the literature (2,3). The major components were myrtenyl acetate (47.4%), arcurcumene (6.8%), caryophyllene oxide (3.8%), [beta]-caryophyllene (3.3%), spathulenol (3.3%) and 1,8-cineole Iimonene (3.2%).

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Jinancial support provided by the Shahid Bcheshti University for this work. We are grateful Io Research Institute of Forests and Kangelands for GCVMS analysis.

References

1. V. Mozaffarian, A Dictionary of Iranian Plant Names. Farhang Moaser, Tehran, Iran (1996).

2. N.W. Davies, Gas Chromatographie retention indices of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes on methyl silicone and Carbowax 20M phases. J. Chromatogr., 503, 1-24 (1990).

3. T. Shibamoto, Retention Indices in Essential oil Analysis. In: Capillary Gas Chromatography in Essential oil Analysis, Edits., P. Sandra and C. Bicchi, Chapters, pp259-274, Dr Alfred Huethig Verlag, New York (1987).

F. Sefidkon* and A. Shaabani

Shahid Beheshti University, Medicinal Plant Research Institute, Phytochemistry Department, P.O. Box 1983963113, Evin, Tehran, Iran

* Address for correspondence

Received: December 2000

Revised: July 2002

Accepted: August 2002

1041-2905/04/0002-0229$6.00/0-� 2003 Allured Publishing Corp.