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Essential oil and glycosidically bound volatiles of lemonscented thyme, Thymus × citriodorus (Pers.) Schreb
Author(s) -
StahlBiskup E.,
Holthuijzen J.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
flavour and fragrance journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.393
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1099-1026
pISSN - 0882-5734
DOI - 10.1002/ffj.2730100317
Subject(s) - geraniol , chemistry , nerol , citronellol , aglycone , geranyl acetate , eugenol , thymol , essential oil , monoterpene , farnesol , terpene , organic chemistry , glycoside , stereochemistry , chromatography
The essential oil from fresh aerial parts of Thymus x citriodorus , probably a hybrid between T. vulgaris L. and T. pulegioides L., was analysed by GC and GC‐MS. Geraniol was found to be the main compound (more than 60%), which kept its high level from July to October. Geranyl acetate (1.0%), geranyl butyrate (0.8%), nerol (2.8%), and citronellol (0.3%) were also detected. The lemon‐scented compounds geranial and neral amounted to 8.2% and 5.5% respectively. The content of thymol (0.5%) was remarkable. In fresh plant material the glycosidically bound volatiles amounted to 0.003‐0.013%. After enzymatic hydrolysis, geraniol was found to be the main aglycone (45%), bound to glucose in the glycosidic fraction. Other important aglycones were a farnesol isomer (7.3%), nerol (3.5%), α‐cadinol (0.4%) and citronellol (0.4%). Thymol only amounted to 0.5% in the aglycone fraction. Other aglycones, such as the aliphatic alcohols present, and benzyl alcohol, 2‐phenylethanol, eugenol, and the terpenes terpinen‐4‐01 and linalol, can more or less be considered as ubiquitous in aglycone fractions. The correspondingly high level of geraniol in the essential oil and in the aglycone fraction shows a correlation between the free and bound volatiles in the plant.