Chemical examination of the leaf essential oil of Curcuma longa L. from the North Indian plains

• Published in: Flavour and fragrance journal Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 103 - 104
• Main Authors: Garg, S. N., Mengi, N., Patra, N. K., Charles, Reena, Kumar, Sushil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-03-2002; Wiley
• Subjects: 1,8-Cineole; 8-cineole; Applied sciences; b-Pinene; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical industry and chemicals; cis-sabinol; Curcuma longa; Cymene; essential oil composition; Essential oils, perfumes; Exact sciences and technology; General pharmacology; Medical sciences; monoterpenoids; p-cymene; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; sabinol; Washing products. Cosmetics and toiletries. Perfumes; Zingiberaceae; β-pinene; Asia; India; Terpenoid; Monocotyledones; Chemical analysis; Hydrocarbon; Coupled method; Pharmacognosy; Alcohol; Flame ionization detector; Plant leaf; Medicinal plant; Gas chromatography; Cymene; Sesquiterpenes; Angiospermae; Monoterpene; Spermatophyta; Chemical composition; Essential oil; Curcuma; Mass spectrometry; Zingiberaceae
• ISSN: 0882-5734; 1099-1026
• DOI: 10.1002/ffj.1056

The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of the fresh leaves of Curcuma longa L. (Zingiberaceae), growing in the Research farm of the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants field station Pant Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India, was investigated by GC and GC–MS. Twenty compounds were identified, accounting for 72% of the contents. The oil of C. longa consisted mainly of monoterpenoids; monoterpene hydrocarbons (57%), oxygenated monoterpenes (10%), sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (3.3%) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (2.1%). The major constituents of the oil were p‐cymene (25.4%) and 1,8‐cineole (18%), followed by cis‐sabinol (7.4%) and β‐pinene (6.3%). Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.