Abstract
Chemical composition of rhizome essential oils of Amomum agastyamalayanum and A. newmanii from south India were analyzed by gas chromatographic techniques. Major constituents in A. agastyamalayanum rhizome oil were allo-aromadendrene (16.2 %), β-pinene (8.7 %) and (E)-caryophyllene (8.5 %). Santolina triene (42.2 %) and α-pinene (17.1 %) were the major constituents in A. newmanii rhizome oil. Monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated sesquiterpenes and other constituents in A. agastyamalayanum/A. newmanii rhizome oils were 16.3 %/73.7 %, 10.4 %/ 6.9 %, 48.8 %/13.1 %, 19.4 %/3.4 % and 2.1 %/1.0 %, respectively. This is the first chemical profiling study of these two endemic Amomum species.