Chemical Composition of the Essential Oils from the Aerial Parts ofBupleurum gibraltariumLam.

The oils from the umbel rays, stems, leaves, fruits and the whole aerial parts of Bupleurum gibraltarium Lam. have been examined by means of GC/MS and retention indices. The dominant constituents in the oil from the whole aerial parts were found to be α-pinene (5.9%), sabinene (9.2%), limonene (6.5%), 2,3,4-trimethylbenzaldehyde (17.2%), terpinen4-ol (5.1%), trans-chrysanthenyl acetate (4.7%), elemol (4.3%) and guaiol (5.3%). The major components of the umbel rays oil were α-pinene (17.6%), sabinene (33.8%), limonene (7.3%), and 2,3,4-trimethyl-benzaldehyde (8.4%). The stem oil was characterized by the presence of α-pinene (6.0%), sabinene (21.8%), limonene (7.2%), 2,3,4-trimethylbenzaldehyde (10.7%), guaiol isomer (5.1%), elemol(5.5%) and guaiol (5.4%). The leaf oil had as main components α-pinene (130%), sabinene (50%) and limonene (10.0%), whereas in the oil from the fruits, α-pinene (42.7%), sabinene (28.3%), and limonene (9.0%) were found to be themost important ones. © 1998, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.