Composition of the Essential Oil of Verbascum undulatum from Greece

Journal of Essential Oil Research: JEOR, Jan/Feb 2007 by Melliou, Eleni, Magiatis, Prokopios, Kalpoutzakis, Eleftherios, Tsitsa, Eugenia

Abstract

The essential oil of the aerial parts of Verbascum undulatum Lam. was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Thirty-six compounds were identified and the major components were 1-octen-3-ol (22.5%), α-bisabolol (10.6%) and nonanal (9.0%).

Key Word Index

Verbascum undulatum, Scrophulariaceae, essential oil composition, 1-octen-3-ol, α-bisabolol.

Plant Name

Verbascum undulatum Lam., Scrophulariaceae (1).

Source

The plant material was collectedin Attiki region (Greece) in May 2002, at flowering stage. A voucher specimen (PROK008b) is deposited in the Herbarium of the laboratory of Pharmacognosy, University of Athens, Greece.

Plant Part

Fresh aerial parts (inflorescences, stems and leaves) of V undulatum were subjected to hydrodistillation for 3 h using a modified Clevenger-type apparatus to give 0.15% of essential oil. The distilled oil was collected, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and stored at 4°C.

Previous Works

Previous works on Verbascum undulatum concern the phytochemical analysis of the aerial parts and the roots of the plant (2-5). Concerning the essential oil of the plant, a survey of the literature reveals that the oil has not been the subject of previous study.

Present Work

The oil was first analyzed by GC-FID carried out on a Perkin-Elmer Clarus 500 gas Chromatograph, fitted with a HP 5MS 30 m x 0.25 mm x 0.25 µm film thickness capillary column. The column temperature was programmed from 60°-280°C at a rate of 3°C/min. The injector and detector temperatures were programmed at 230°C and 300°C, respectively. He was used as the carrier gas at a flow rate 1 mL/min.

The GC/MS analysis were carried out using a Hewlett Packard 6890-5973 GC/MS system operating on EI mode (equipped with a HP 5MS 30 m x 0.25 mm x 0.25 µm film thickness capillary column). Helium (1 mL/min) was used as carrier gas. The initial temperature of the column was 60°C and then it was heated to 280°C at a rate of 3°C/min.

GC/MS analyses were also performed on a Finnigan GCQ Plus ion trap mass spectrometer with an external ion source in both the EI and chemical ionization (CI) modes, using CH^sub 4^ as the CI ionization reagent and with the same column and conditions as above.

The identification of the compounds was based on comparison of their retention indices (RI), obtained using n-alkanes (C^sub 9^-C^sub 25^), and on comparison of their El-mass spectra with the NIST/N BS.Wiley library spectra and literature (6). Additionally, the identity of all compounds was performed by comparison of the expected molecular weights with the results obtained from the CI spectra.

The chemical analysis of the oil of V. undulatum is presented in Table I. The major components were 1-octen-3-ol (22.5%), α-bisabolol (10.6%) and nonanal (9.0%).

References

T.G. Tutin, V.M. Heywood, N.A. Burgess, D.M. Moore, D.H.Valentine, S.M. Waltersand D.A. Webb, Flora Europaea. Vol 3, p.461, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1972).

2. A.L. Skaltsounis, E. Tsitsa-Tzardls, C. Demetzos and C. Harvala, Unduloside, a new iridoid glycoside from Verbascum undulatum. J. Nat. Prod., 59. 673-675 (1996).

3. P. Magiatis, S. Mitaku, E. Tsitsa, A.L. Skaltsounis and C. Harvala, Verbascoside derivatives and iridoid glycosides from Verbascum undulatum. Nat. Prod. Lett., 12, 111-115 (1998).

4. P. Magiatis, D. Spanakis, S. Mitaku, E. Tsitsa and A. Mentis, Verbalactone, a new macrocyclic dimer lactone from the roots of Verbascum undulatum with antibacterial activity. J. Nat. Prod., 64,1093-1094 (2001).

5. P. Magiatis, E. Melliou, E. Tsitsa, C. Harvala and S. Mitaku, Two new acylated iridoid glycosides from Verbascum undulatum. Z. Naturforsch. sect C, 55c, 667-669 (2000).

6. R.P. Adams, Identification of Essential Oil Components by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectometry. Allured Publishing Corp., Carol Stream, IL (2001).

Eleni Melliou, Prokopios Magiatis, Eleftherios Kalpoutzakis and Eugenia Tsitsa*

Department of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy,

University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis-Zografou, Athens 15771, Greece

* Address for correspondence