ESSENTIAL OIL COMPOSITION OF LEAVES AND BERRIES OF VITEX-AGNUS-CASTUSL FROM CALABRIA, SOUTHERN ITALY

The essential oil of leaves and berries of Vitex agnus-castus L. (Verb enaceae) growing wild in Calabria, southern Italy, was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, A total of 38 compounds (including two coeluting pairs) were identified (95.8 and 66.1% in leaf and berry oil, respectively); 6 compounds were tentatively identified and 7 com pounds remained unknown, All the unknown and tentatively identified co mpounds eluted in the final part of the chromatograms and were particu larly abundant in the berry oil. The main components of the essential oil were 1,8-cineole, sabinene, alpha-pinene, beta-farnesene, beta-car yophyllene and alpha-terpinenyl acetate. The relative amounts of two m ain constituents namely sabinene and beta-farnesene, versus 1,8-cineol e and the whole sesquiterpenic fraction in leaves were more comparable to the data reported in the literature for a Dalmatian V. agnus-castu s than to the composition of an African sample. The berry essential oi l of the present samples was characterized by a large content of sesqu iterpenes, diterpenes and other unknown high-molecular-weight compound s (62.1%) compared to the leaf oil (15.3%) and to the literature data regarding the Dalmatian and African types.