Aromatic Plants of Yugoslavia. I. Chemical Composition of Oils of Achillea millefolium L. ssp. pannonica (Scheele) Hayak, A. crithmifolia W. et K., A. serbica Nym. and A. tanacetifolia All.

Abstract

We used GC/MS to determine the chemical composition of the essential oils of wild Achillea plants native to Yugoslavia: Achillea millefolium L. ssp. pannonica (Scheele) Hayak, A. crithmifolia W. et K., A. serbica Nym. and A. tanacetifolia All. Seventy-four components were identified. All four oils contained camphor (4–16%), 1,8-cineole (6–23%) and borneol (4–16%). In addition, artemisia ketone (4%) was found in A. crithmifolia, α-thujone (4.5%) in Achillea millefolium, yomogi alcohol and 2-pyrolidone were specific to A. serbica, and A, crithmifolia contained cis-chrysanthenol (1.4%) and large amounts of the corresponding acetate (23.4%).

Key Word Index:

• Achillea millefolium
• A. crithmifolia
• A. serbica
• A. tanacetifolia
• Asteraceae
• essential oil composition
• camphor
• 1,8-cineole
• borneol
• yomogi alcohol
• 2-pyrolidone
• cis-chrysanthenol
• cis-chrysanthenyl acetate