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Essential oil composition of Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa: chemotypic and seasonal variations
Author(s) -
Verma Ram S,
Padalia Rajendra C,
Chauhan Amit
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.6510
Subject(s) - essential oil , limonene , terpenoid , nutraceutical , population , seasonality , horticulture , germacrene , botany , chemical composition , alpha pinene , chemistry , biology , traditional medicine , food science , ecology , medicine , organic chemistry , environmental health
BACKGROUND Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa is a sacred medicinal and nutraceutical tree of India. The present study planned to explore the chemotypic and seasonal variability of the leaf essential oil of A. marmelos from north India for proper industrial utilization . RESULTS The essential oil yield varied from 0.37% to 0.80% in leaves of A. marmelos populations. Analysis of the essential oils by gas chromatography and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and the subsequent classification by statistical analysis showed three types of chemical compositions for A. marmelos with significant variations in their terpenoid compositions. Major components of the essential oils were limonene (31.0–90.3%), α‐phellandrene (<0.05–43.5%), ( E )‐β‐ocimene (0.7–7.9%), α‐pinene (<0.05–7.5%), ( E )‐caryophyllene (0.5–5.3%), β‐elemene (<0.05–4.2%) and germacrene B (0.0–3.3%). In addition to this, essential oil of a locally growing A. marmelos population was also investigated for seasonal variations. The essential oil yield in this population varied from 0.37% to 0.82% during different seasons. Major constituents, namely α‐phellandrene (35.8–49.8%), limonene (24.7–34.3%), ( E )‐β‐ocimene (4.2–10.0%) and α‐pinene (6.0–8.0%), showed considerable variations due to season of collection . CONCLUSIONS The growing location and harvesting season had a close relation to yield and quality of A. marmelos leaf essential oil. The results obtained are of significance for determining a suitable time for harvesting A. marmelos leaves. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry