A Study on the Composition of Commercial Vetiveria zizanioides Oils from Different Geographical Origins

Journal of Essential Oil Research: JEOR, Jul/Aug 2006 by Champagnat, Pascal, Figueredo, Gilles, Chalchat, Jean-Claude, Carnat, André-Paul, Bessière, Jean-Marie

Abstract

This work reports the chemical composition of essential oils of Vetiveria zizanioïdes (L.) Nash from nine countries: Brazil, China, Haiti, India, Java, Madagascar, Mexico, Reunion and Salvador. Analyses were performed using GC/MS, and about 110 constituents were identified in oils, mainly sesquiterpenes. The characteristic constituents were β-vetispirene (1.6-4.5%), khusimol (3.4-13.7%), vetiselinenol (1.3- 7.8%) and α-vetivone (2.5- 6.3%).

No meaningful differences were observed comparing the composition of nine geographical origins. Hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis (PCA) of the compositional data of the oil samples confirm the relative homogeneity of V. zizanioides by the content of major constituents (khusimol, β-vetivenene and β-vetispirene).

Key Word Index

Vetiveria zizanioides, Poaceae, vetiver oil, essential composition, khusimol.

Introduction

Veticeria zizanioides (L.) Nash (syn. Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty) is a robust perennial grass, rhizomatous, with culms up to 2 m high (1). This species is native of India and has been introduced in many tropical countries (Java, Haiti, Reunion, etc. ). The plant is grown for its aromatic roots, source of an essential oil known as oil of vetiver. This oil is principally used in high class perfumery where its persistent odour makes it of great value as a fixative in admixture with other perfumes.

Numerous studies have been published upon essential oils of V zizanioides. It was possible to distinguish three representative periods. The first took place 60 years ago with Pfau and Plattner (2), Naves and Perrottet (3).The second period was between 1960 and 1970, where the works of Marshall (4-6), Andersen (7-10), Nigam and Komae (11,12), and Garnero (13) were particularly significant by structure determination and synthesis of some compounds of vetiver oils. Concerning the different geographical origins of vetiver oils, a single study was published by Lemberg and Hale (14). This work reported quantitative determination of only nine main components of the oils. The studies realized by Weyerstahl and Marschall (15-18) between 1990 and 2000 only concerned Haitian vetiver oil; a finalizing on V. zizanioides was realized in 2002 by Maffei (19). More recently, Adams et al. reported the composition of vetiver cultivar oils in relation to their DNA-fingerprint (20).

The aim of the present study was to complete and to compare chemical composition of vetiver oils from nine countries by principal components analysis (PCA): Brazil, China, Haiti, India, Java, Madagascar, Mexico, Reunion and Salvador. The compositional data of nine samples were submitted to multivariate statistic analysis.

Experimental

Plant material: All the samples of vetiver oils were supplied by commercial companies (AD: Adrian, Aix en Provence, France; CH: Charabot, Grasse, France; CA: Clos d'Aguzon, St. Auban sur l'Ouvèze, France; MR: Monique Rémy, Grasse, France; PB: Payan Bertrand, Grasse, France; CO: Cosbionat, Vendôme, France; CAH: C.A.H.E.B., Le Tampon, France) which guaranteed the authenticity of the geographical origin of the oils. Twenty-seven samples were analyzed, representing nine different countries, as follows: Brazil (four samples: AD, CH, CA), China (two samples: AD, CA), Haiti (four samples: AD, MR, CA), India (two samples: AD), Java (four samples: PB, CA, MR), Madagascar (three samples: AD, CO), Mexico (two samples: AD), Reunion (four samples: MR, CAH, CA) and Salvador (two samples: AD, CA).

Analysis: GC analyses were performed on a Hewlett Packard HP 6890 equipped with a split/splitless injector (280°C), a split ratio 1:10, using a HP-5 capillary column (25 m x 0.25 mm, film thickness 0.25 µm). The temperature program was 50°C (5 min) rising to 300°C at a rate of 5°C/min. Helium was used as the carrier gas at a flow rate of 1.1 mL/min. The injection of each sample consisted of 1.0 µL of oil diluted to 10% v/v with acetone.

GC/MS analyses were performed on a Hewlett Packard 5973/6890 system operating in EI mode (70 eV), equipped with a split/splitless injector (280°C), a split ratio 1:10, using two different columns: a fused silica HP-5 MS capillary column (25 m x 0.25 mm, film thickness 0.25 µm), and a HP-Innowax capillary column (60 m x 0.25 mm, film thickness 0.25 µm). The temperature program for the HP-5 MS column was 50°C (5min) rising to 300°C at a rate of 5°C/min and for the HP-Innowax column, 50°-250°C at a rate of 5°C/min. Helium was used as the carrier gas at a flow rate of 1.1 mL/min. Retention indices for all compounds were determined according to the Van den Dool approach (21). The identification of components was based on comparison of their mass spectra with those of Wiley (22), Adams (23) and Joulain (24) libraries, as well as by comparison of their retention indices with literature data. The compositional data of nine geographical origins were submitted to multivariate statistic analysis accomplished by Systat v.11 (Systat Software Inc.). Data were subject to a hierarchical clusteringusingaverage linkage with square Euclidean distance measure and factor analysis using the principal components extraction method (PCA).