Chemical composition of the essential oils from Helichrysum arenarium (L.) plants growing in Lithuanian forests

ABSTRACT

Chemical composition of the essential oils (16 samples) obtained by hydro-distillation from inflorescences and leaves of Helichrysum arenarium L. plants growing in Lithuanian forests is reported. Fifty-six compounds were identified by GC–MS and GC (FID), which made up 80.1–98.8% of total oil content. The main fractions were found to be sesquiterpenes (29.0–70.1%) and aliphatics hydrocarbons (7.7–45.5%) followed by oxygenated monoterpenes (2.0–13.9%). Among terpenoids, the first principal constituents revealed were as follows: 1,8-cineole (8.9%, one sample), β-caryophyllene (5.8–36.2%, 14 oils), and γ- and δ-cadinene (5.8% and 9.0%, respectively). However, the essential oils contained appreciable amounts of aliphatic hydrocarbons (mainly octadecane and heneicosane), whose origin is most probably from epiticular waxes of the plant. The dominant content of octadecane was 7.1–22.3%, while an appreciable quantity of heneicosane varied from 7.9% to 20.0%. The main compositional data were subjected to the statistical analysis. The results obtained clearly demonstrated remarkable differences in chemical composition of the essential oils of Lithuanian H. arenarium L. from the oils of everlastings from other world countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench
• f. Asteraceae
• essential oil
• 1
• 8-cineole
• β-caryophyllene
• γ-
• δ-cadinene
• octadecane
• heneicosane
• statistical data analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.