Composition of Essential

Oils Obtained from Some

Aromatic Plants of Nepal

Khilendra Gurung¹, Minoba Yonzon², Usha Rijal² and

Gabbriella Innocenti³
¹Resource Research and Development Center, Kathmandu
²Herbs Production and Processing Company Limited, Kathmandu
³Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy
Correspondence
E-mail: khilendragurung@yahoo.com
Š Nepal is a repository of aromatic
plants-over 200 species
(Adhikari, 1989; Gurung, 2004),
used as food, health care
products, flavors and fragrances
for centuries.
Š Many are exported to
industrialized countries as raw
materials for drug, fragrance and
flavor industries.
Š Only 20-22 items of essential oils
are extracted for analysis and for
trade in Nepal.
Š There are vast potentiality to
extract essential oils from
majority of underutilized
aromatic herbs and some
commercially important aromatic
herbs.
Š Underutilized species as
Eupatorium adenophorum
Spreng (Local name:
Banmara; Family:
Compositae) and Lantana
camara L. (Local name: Ban
phanda, gandhe kanda;
Family: Verbenaceae);
Š Commercially important
culinary species as Amomum
subulatum Roxb. (Local
name: Alainchi; Family:
Zingiberaceae) and Lindera
neesiana (Wall. ex Nees)
Kurz. (Local name: Siltimur;
Family: Lauraceae) are
selected for the present
study.
Š Traditionally, Eupatorium
adenophorum is used for the
treatment of minor cuts, wounds,
boils, stanch bleeding, wounds and
fever.
Š Lantana camara is used in cases of
rheumatism, malarial fever, influenza,
cough, mumps, eczema and sprain.
Š Seeds of Amomum subulatum are
used to treat dyspepsia, to relieve
pains, as appetizer and aid in the flow
of saliva and as a condiment in the
preparation of sweets, and for
flavoring beverages.
Š Fruits of Lindera neesiana is used for
treating stomach ache due to
indigestion, diarrhea, toothache,
nausea, as anthelmintic and
flatulence (Pohle, 1990; Manandhar,
2002 and Gurung, 2003).
Š This paper examines the chemical
composition of Eupatorium oil, Lantana
oil, Large cardamom oil and Lindera oil in
view of their importance as a source of
income for the rural communities and as
a preliminary research for developing the
standards for these plant products.
Š Raw materials were collected
from different locations of
Nepal.
Š Essential oils were obtained
by hydro-distillation method
using Clevenger-type
apparatus.
Š Eupatorium oil from the
leaves and young twigs of
Eupatorium adenophorum,
Š Lantana oil from leaves and
aerial parts of Lantana
camara,
Š Large cardamom oil from
dried seeds of Amomum
subulatum and
Š Lindera oil from dried fruits
of Lindera neesiana
GC-MS analysis
Š Chemical composition of a sample of
essential oils were analysed by means of
GC-MS at Department of Pharmaceutical
Sciences, University of Padova, Italy
during 2006/2007.
Š Identification of components was based
on comparison of their mass spectra with
those of Wiley Library, as well as on
comparison of their retention indices with
literature values.
Š GC-MS analysis of the Eupatorium oil,
Lantana oil, Large cardamom oil and Lindera
oil led to the identification of the majority of
components.
Š Altogether 29 compounds with 70.53% of
the total components were identified in
Eupatorium oil,
Š Similarly, 24 compounds representing
76.65% of the total components were
identified in Lantana oil,
Š Whereas, 7 different compounds
representing 94.58% of the total
components identified in Large cardamom oil
and
Š 40 compounds with 86.5% of the total
components were identified in Lindera oil.
 MAJOR CONSTITUENTS OF THE COMPOSITION OF EUPATORIUM
EUPATORIUM ADENOPHORUM OIL CANNABINUM OIL

S Compounds % Retention Š Flamini et al. (2003) reported

N Indices Germacrene-D, bicyclogermacrene,
methyl thymol, spathulenol, and
1 Torreyol 15.24 1644
caryophyllene oxide as main
constituents in Italian Eupatorium
2 Bornyl acetate 7.27 1285 cannabinum oil.
Š Singh and Pandey (1999) reported
3 α-Bisabolol 6.52 1683 caryophyllene oxide as the major
constituents of Indian Eupatorium
4 Zierone 4.30 1754 cannabinum oil.
Š Penneau et al. (1993) found
5 β-Bisabolene 4.26 1509 cyperone and α-farnesene as
principal compounds in Eupatorium
cannabinum oil.
 DOMINANT CONSTITUENTS
OF LANTANA OIL COMPOSITION OF INDIAN
LANTANA OIL
SN Compounds % Retention Š Rana et al. (2005) determined
the dominant constituents of the
Indices Leaf oil of Lantana camara
1 β-Caryophyllene 16.87 1418 growing in Dehradun, India as β-
caryophyllene, α-humulene,
germacrene-D, davanone, γ-
2 Sabinene 12.28 976 curcumene.
Š Singh et al. (1991) found α-
farnesene, α-phellandrene,
3 Eucalyptol 9.63 1033 longifolene, α-cedrene and β-
caryophyllene in a sample of leaf
4 Germacrene-B 9.26 1556 oil of Indian origin.
Š Khan et al. (2002) reported
germacrene-D, β-elemene, β-
5 α-Caryophyllene 5.17 1454 caryophyllene, α-copane and α-
cadinene as main constituents in
the leaves and flowers oils of
Indian Lantana.
 LARGE CARDAMOM OIL WAS LARGE CARDAMOM OIL OF
DOMINATED BY
DARJEELING AND SIKKIM
SN Compounds % Retention Š According to Lawrence
Indices (1970), Gupta et al. (1984),
Gurudutt et al. (1996) and
1 Eucalyptol 75.76 1033 Rout et al. (2003) oil of
Large cardamom growing in
2 β-Pinene 5.98 980 Sikkim consisted of 1, 8-
cineol;
3 α-Terpineol 4.43 1189 Š Patra et al. (1982) reported
the presence of 1, 8-cineol,
sabinene and γ-terpinene as
4 Limonene 4.22 1031 major components in the oil
from fruits of Large
5 α-Pinene 2.80 939 cardamom growing wild in
Darjeeling.
 LINDERA NEESIANA FRUIT OIL LINDERA NEESIANA LEAF
WAS CHARACTERIZED BY THE
PRESENCE OF AND BRANCH OIL
SN Compounds % Retention
Indices Š Singh et al. (1995)
reported the presence of
1 Z-Citral 15.08 1270 methyl chavicol and
safrole as major
2 E-Citral 11.89 1240 constituents from leaf oil
while, myristicin and 1, 8-
3 Eucalyptol 8.75 1033 cineol were the major
components of the branch
4 Citronellal 6.72 1153 oil from Lindera neesiana.
5 α-Pinene 6.63 939
Š Composition of Eupatorium oil, Lantana oil and
Large cardamom oil showed a different profile
from those oils from other countries providing a
different chemical profile.
Š Lindera neesiana fruit oil was a new item of
essential oil never studied before.
Š Composition of these oils showed a great
chemical diversity thus providing new aroma
profiles.
Š Chemical diversity found in those analyzed oils
can be used to open new market opportunities
due to their novel and unique properties which
could contribute to a better utilization of these
raw materials.
Š Development of grades and standards as well as
quality assurance and quality control systems are
the key strategies to further develop the products
quality.
Comments and suggestions please

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