VOLATILE CONSTITUENTS OF THE ESSENTIAL OILS OF THE SEEDS AND THE HERBOF PALMAROSA (CYMBOPOGON MARTINII (ROXB.) WATS. VAR. MOTIA BURK.)

The essential oil of palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinii (Roxb.) Wats. var. motia Burk.) seeds collected from three different geographical locati ons in India was analysed by capillary GC and GC-MS. The composition o f the oil samples was compared with that of the oil of flowering palma rosa herb. Besides the main constituent, geraniol (74.5-81.8%), 55 oth er constituents, including those present in trace amounts, were identi fied in the seed essential oil. Although the composition of the seed o ils is similar to that of the herb oil, quantitative differences in th e concentration of some constituents were observed. The seed oil was f ound to contain lower amounts of geranyl acetate and higher amounts of (E, Z)-farnesol than the herb oil. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.