Essential oil composition of Curcuma longa L. cv. Roma from the plains of northern India

Plants of Curcuma longa L. cv. Roma were grown in the agroclimatic conditions of the north Indian plains at Lucknow. The rhizomes and leaves, on hydrodistillation, each gave 2.2% of oils, which were analysed by GC and GC–MS. The rhizome oil contained 84 constituents, comprising 100% of the oil, of which the major ones were 1,8‐cineole (11.2%), α‐turmerone (11.1%), β‐caryophyllene (9.8%), ar ‐turmerone (7.3%) and β‐sesquiphellandrene (7.1%). The leaf oil contained 83 components, comprising 97.4% of the total oil, of which the main constituents were terpipolene (26.4%), 1,8‐cineole (9.5%), α‐phellandrene (8%) and terpinen‐4‐ol (7.4%). Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.