Essential Oil Composition of Tagetes minuta L. Fruits

Journal of Essential Oil Research: JEOR, Mar/Apr 2005 by Kaul, Pran N, Bhattacharya, Arun K, Rao, Bhaskaruni R Rajeswara, Syamasundar, Kodakandla V, Ramesh, S

Abstract

Hydrodistilled essential oil of the dried mature fruits containing seeds of Tagetes minuta was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Twenty-four constituents making up 93.7% of the oil were identified. The major compounds were limonene β-phellandrene (4.7%), (Z)-β-ocimene (36.8%), dihydrotagetone (E)-β-ocimene (15.5%), (Z)-tagetone (17.1%), (Z)-tagetenone (3.0%) and (E)-tagetenone (7.5%).

Key Word Index

Tagetes minuta, Compositae, essential oil composition, (Z)-β-ocimene, (Z)-tagetone.

Plant Name

Tagetes minuta L. (Compositae).

Source

Plant was grown in the Research Farm of CIMAP Field Station, Hyderabad, India and mature fruits containing seeds were collected.

Plant Part

Dried mature fruits containing seeds were hydrodistilled in Clevenger-type apparatus for 3 h to yield 0.50% oil.

Previous Work

The oil from whole herb, leaves, flowers and whole herb at different developmental stages was investigated previously (1-14). Main constituents of immature and mature fruit oils were reported (4), but detailed investigation was not carried out earlier.

Present Work

GC analysis of oil sample was performed on Perkin Elmer 8500 equipped with FID and BP-I capillary column (25 m x 0.5 mm, 0.25 µm film thickness) coated with polydimethylsiloxane. Temperature programming: 60°0 -220°C at 5°C/min. Carrier gas: N^sub 2^ at 34 cm/sec linear velocity and 10 psi inlet pressure. Injector and detector temperatures: 250°C and 300°C, respectively. Spilt ratio: 1:80.

GC/MS analysis of oil sample was carried out using Hewlett Packard 5890 GC coupled to an HP 5970 MSD fitted with methyl silicone column (50 m x 0.2 mm, 0.25 µm film thickness). Temperature programming: 100°-280°C at 4°C/min. Carrier gas: He at 1 mL/min flow rate. lonization energy: 70 eV. Ion source temperature: 250°C.

Constituent identification was done by comparison of retention indices with published literature (15,16), peak enrichment on co-injection of standard compounds and comparison of mass spectra of the peaks with those of authentic chemicals reported in literature ( 16,17). Relative percentage amounts were computed from peak areas without FID response factor correction. The compounds identified in the oil are listed in Table I.

The main constituents of the oil were limonene β-phellandrene, (Z)-β-ocimene, dihydrotagetone (E)-3-ocimene, (E)-tagetone, (Z)-tagetone, (Z)-tagetenone, (E)-tagetenone and methyl thymol constituting 87.1% of the oil.

Acknowledgment

The authors thank the director, CIMAP, Lucknow and the scientist-in-charge, CIMAP Field Station, Hyderabad for facilities.

References

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