Essential Oil Constituents of Leaves and Fruits of Cupressus arizonica Greene

Journal of Essential Oil Research: JEOR, Mar/Apr 2005 by Afsharypuor, Suleiman, Tavakoli, Parisa

Abstract

The composition of the essential oils of leaves and fruits of Cupressus arizonica Greene was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The main constituents of the leaf oil were α-pinene (19.2%), cis-muurola-4(14),5-diene (10.0%), β-phellandrene (9.6%) and sabinene (8.1%). Major components of the fruit oil were α-pinene (57.6%), camphene (10.1%), β-pinene (7.2%), sabinene (3.7%) and p-cymene (3.7%).

Key Word Index

Cupressus arizonica, Cupressaceae, essential oil composition, α-pinene, camphene, cis-muurola-4(14),5-diene.

Introduction

Cupressus arizonica Greene (Cupressaceae) is a tree indigenous to Arizona and southwestern USA. It was introduced into Iran in 1954 and ever since has been commonly cultivated in different parts of this country (1).

The composition of the oil obtained from the leaves of the same tree growing in Argentinean Patagonia, Texas and Algeria has been reported (2-4). This is the first report of composition of the oils of the leaves and fruits of the same tree growing in Isfahan (Iran).

Experimental

Plant material: Leaves and fruits of the plant were collected in May 2001 from a population growing in Isfahan. The plant was identified by the Botany Department of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Isfahan (Iran).Voucher specimens of the leaves and fruits of the plant were deposited in the Herbarium of the Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (Iran).

Oil preparation: Fresh plant parts were steam distilled for 4 h. Yellow oil from the leaves (0.10% v/w) and colorless oil from the fruits (0.42% v/w) were obtained, which exhibited the following physical properties: d^sup 25^: 0.800; η^sup 25^: 1.4811 and d^sup 25^: 0.800; η^sup 25^: 1.4615, respectively.

GC analysis: Gas chromatographic determinations were run on a Perkin Elmer 8500 instrument using a BP1 capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm, film thickness 0.25 µm). The carrier gas was nitrogen with a flow rate of 2 mL/min. The oven temperature was programmed from 60°-275°C at 4°C/min. Injector and detector temperatures were 275°C and 280°C, respectively.

Quantitative data were derived from the integrator (Perkin Elmer GP-100) data obtained from the GC-FID chromatograms recorded during routine GC without the use of correction factors.

GC/MS analysis: Analysis of the oils was performed on a Hewlett Packard 6890 GC/MS instrument under the following conditions: injection of 0.1 µL samples, HP-5 MS capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm, film thickness 0.25 µm); carrier gas He, flow rate 2 mL/min, injector temperature 250°C, temperature program: 60°-275°C at 4°C/min; mass spectra: electronic impact, ionization potential 70 eV, ion source temperature 250°C, ionization current 1000 µA, resolution 1000, and mass range 30-300.

Identification of the constituents was based on computer matching against the library spectra (Library Database Wiley 275), their retention indices with reference to an n-alkane series in a temperature programmed run, interpreting their fragmentation pattern and comparison of the mass spectra with the literature data (5).

Results and Discussion

Fifty-two constituents in the leaf oil and 46 components in the fruit oil were identified (Table I). α-Pinene (19.2%), cis-muurola-4(14),5-diene(10.0%), β-phellandrene (9.6%) and sabinene (8.1%) were the main constituents of the leaf oil. In a previous work, the oil obtained from leaves of C. arizonica tree growing in Texas contained phyllocladanol (14.2%), butyl methyl ether (8.6%), nezukol (8.5%), α-pinene (7.6%), isophyllocladene (5.8%), β-phellandrene (5.7%),umbellulone (5.4%) and phyllocladene (4.1%) as the major components (2). Furthermore, leaf oils of the same plant from Algeria and Argentina were reported to be richer in umbellulone and α-pinene. The Algerian oil contained umbellulone (37.3%), α-pinene (10.5%), γ-muurolene (8.5%) and terpinene-4-ol (5.5%) as the main constituents (3); while the Argentinean oil was found to have α-pinene (22.9%), umbellulone (16.5%), cis-muurola-4(14),5-diene (9%) and limonene (8.5%) as the major components (4).

The major constituents of the fruit oil of C. arizonica growing in Isfahan were α-pinene (57.6%), camphene (10.1%), β-pinene (7.2%), sabinene (3.7%) and p-cymene (3.7%). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report concerning the examination of the fruit oil of C. arizonica. As it is obvious, the oil is very rich in α-pinene.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to M.R. Rahiminejad (Botany Department, Faculty of Sciences, University of Isfahan) for identification of the plant material and Armita Jamshidi for her help in analyzing the oil samples by GC and GC/MS methods.

References

1. H. Sabeti, Native and Exotic Trees and Shrubs of Iran, p.117, Tehran University Press, Tehran (1966).

2. R.P. Adams, T.A. Zanoni, A. Lara, A.F. Barrero and L.G. Cool, Comparisons among Cupressus arizonica Greene, C. Benthamii Endl., C. lindleyi Koltz. ex Endl. and C. lusitanica Mill. using leaf essential oils and DNA fingerprinting. J. Essent. Oil Res., 9, 303-309 (1997).