Essential oil composition of Ocimum basilicum L., O. gratissimum L. and O-suave L. in the Republic of Guinea

Specimens of Ocimum basilicum L., O. grattisimum and O. sauve L. were colle cted at Coyah, Kindia and Faranah in the Republic of Guinea (voucher specim ens were deposited in the herbarium of the Environmental Studies and Resear ch Center (ERSC), University of Conakry-Guinea). Steam distillation of the specimens was done at ESRC. The essential oil obtained was analysed by GC a nd CC-MS, and had the following major constituents: linalool (69%), eugenol (10%), t-alpha -bergamotene (3%) and thymol (2%) for O. basilicum; thymol (46%), p-cymeme (12%) and gamma -terpene-+ t-sabiene hydrate (17%) for O. g ratissimum: and p-cymeme (59%), alpha -thujene (10%), myrcene (7%) and thym ol (7%) for O. sauve. A list of compounds is given for each plant species. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.