Composition of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don fil. subsp italicum essential oils from Corsica (France)

The components of essential oils of Helichrysum italicum subsp. italicum gr owing in Corsica were investigated by the combination of GC and GC-MS. In a first part, nine commercial and laboratories-prepared samples were analyse d and Corsican oils were found to contain neryl acetate as predominant comp ound, with amounts from 15.8% (from plants in stage of early shoots) to 42. 5% (in full flowering period). In a second part, we sampled Helichrysum ita licum subsp. italicum from three locations over the growth cycle of the pla nt. Significant variations were observed in the concentration of the main c onstituents, pointing out a chemical composition of oils produced from plan ts in early shoots (higher amounts of ketones and beta -diketones) differen t from that obtained from samples harvested in the stages of flowering (hig her contents of neryl acetate). Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.