ESSENTIAL OIL COMPOSITION OF BOTHRIOCHLOA-PERTUSA AND PHYLETIC RELATIONSHIP IN AROMATIC GRASSES

Chemical composition of the essential oil of Bothriochloa pertusa (L) A. Camus, collected from temperate Himalaya, revealed the major catego ries of terpenoids as monoterpene hydrocarbons (26.45%), oxygenated mo noterpenes (7.29%), sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (4.73%) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (37.05%), in 82.31% of the total volatile constituents identified. Twenty-eight compounds were identified, the major of which are camphene (7.40%), limonene (14.90%), borneol (2.26%), Isobornyl a cetate (2.01%), beta-caryophyllene (3.10%), intermedeol (24.72%) and a corenone-B (9.80%). B. pertusa contains higher percentage of monoterpe ne hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes in comparison to B. bladhi , the only other species of the genus analysed in detail. About 88% of the aromatic grasses are represented by tribe Andropogoneae, that spr ead globally by late Miocene, possibly a period of the greatest evolut ionary diversity in aromatic grasses. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. A ll rights reserved.