Essential-Oil Composition of Helichrysum italicum (Roth ) G.Don ssp. italicum from Elba Island (Tuscany, Italy) by Michele Leonardi* a ), Katarzyna E. Ambryszewska a ), Bernardo Melai a ), Guido Flamini a ), Pier Luigi Cioni a ), Federico Parri b ), and Luisa Pistelli a ) a ) Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Universita ` di Pisa, Via Bonanno Pisano 33, I-56126 Pisa (phone: þ 39-0502219705; fax. þ 39-0502219659; e-mail: mikileonardi@gmail.com) b )Corpo Forestale dello Stato, Coordinamento Territoriale per lAmbiente di Portoferraio, Comando Stazione di Marciana Marina (LI), Italy The composition of 21 essential-oil samples isolated from Helichrysum italicum collected in seven locations of Elba Island (Tuscany, Italy), characterized by different soil types, during three different periods (January, May, and October 2010) was determined by GC-FID and GC/EI-MS analyses. In total, 115 components were identified, representing 96.8 – 99.8% of the oil composition. The oils were characterized by a high content of oxygenated monoterpenes (38.6 – 62.7%), while monoterpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons accounted for 2.3 – 41.9 and 5.1 – 20.1% of the identified constituents, respectively. The main oxygenated derivatives were nerol (2.8–12.8%) and its ester derivative neryl acetate (5.6 – 45.9%). To compare the chemical variability of the species within Elba Island and between the island and other localities within the Mediterranean area, studied previously, multivariate statistical analysis was performed. The results obtained showed a difference in the composition of the essential oils of H. italicum from Elba Island, mainly due to the environment where the plant grows, and, in particular, to the soil type. These hypotheses were further confirmed by the comparison of these oils with essential oils obtained from H. italicum collected on other islands of the Tuscan archipelago. Introduction. – The genus Helichrysum (Asteraceae) , with more than 600 species, is widespread throughout the world. This genus is represented in the Mediterranean area by nearly 25 native species; among them, eight species are present in Italy, viz., H. italicum ( Roth ), H. frigidum ( Labill.; endemic of Sardinia and Corsica), H. montelinasanum Em.Schmid, H. saxatile ( Moris ), H. nebrodense Heldr., H. rupestre ( Ralim.), H. stoechas ( Pignatti ), and H. siculum (Spreng.) [1]. Helichrysum species are xerophytes growing at a wide range of altitudes, from the sea level up to 1700 m.a.s.l., preferably on sandy or loamy soils. They are distributed from the lower- meso-Mediterranean to the lower-sub-humid bioclimatic environments [2]. The chemical composition of Helichrysum oils has been reviewed by Lawrence [3]. H. italicum naturally occurs in the Mediterranean area, including Italy and the Italian islands. The name of the plant, from the Greek words helios (sun) and chryos (gold) , relates to the typical bright yellow colored inflorescences, which represent the drug. It consists of three subspecies, viz., H. italicum ssp. microphyllum (Baleares, Sardinia, and Corsica), H. italicum ssp. serotinum (Iberian Peninsula), and H. italicum ssp. italicum (Mediterranean basin) [4] [5]. Several analyses of essential oils (EOs) have been reported in the literature [5]. The EO is contained in all the green parts of the plant. EOs and extracts of the dried flowers are used in the popular medicine in the CHEMISTRY & BIODIVERSITY – Vol. 10 (2013) 343  2013 Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta AG, Zürich