Chemical Composition of Bunium elegans (Fenzl) Freyn var. elegans Essential Oil

The genus Bunium (Apiaceae) comprises about 50 species spreading in Asia, Europe and North Africa. It is encountered in almost every region of Turkey, especially in the Mediterranean, Southeastern Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia regions. It has various therapeutic effects on digestive and urinary tract disorders. In traditional medicine, it has been used in chronic stomach diseases, colitis, jaundice, chronic cholangitis, swelling and kidney stones. In this study, it is aimed to clarify the chemical profile of essential oil obtained from Bunium elegans (Fenzl) Freyn var. elegans and to determine its main compounds. Aerial parts of B. elegans collected from Kayseri, Turkey and hydrodistillated for 3 h by Clevenger-type apparatus to obtained essential oil. The chemical composition of the essential oil was analyzed by Gas chromatography (GC), Gas chromatography and Mass spectrometry (GC-MS), simultaneously. Caryophyllene oxide (28.7%), myristicin (7.4%), caryophyllenol II (4.1%) and hexadecanoic acid (3.7%) were found as major components for the B. elegans essential oil. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the chemical constituents of B. elegans from Turkey.