COMPOSITION OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL OF THE FLOWER HEADS OF MATRICARIA-PERFORATA

The essential oil of the flower heads of scentless mayweed (M. perfora te Merat) was investigated. It consists of more than 50 compounds; 26 of them, together representing about 95.2% of the total oil, were iden tified by GC, GC/MS, and partly by H-1-NMR and UV. They can be classif ied into polyacetylenes (88.8%), sesquiterpenoids (5.8%), monoterpenoi ds (0.1%), fatty acids (0.3%), and miscellaneous compounds (5.0%). The oil was dominated by 2Z,8Z-matricaria ester (ME; 75.2%), which was ac companied by several other characteristic polyines, occurring in much lower concentrations: e.g. 8Z-2,3-dihydro-ME, 2E- and 2Z-lachnophyllum ester, 2E-dehydro-ME, and 5E,9Z-matricaria lactone.