FLAVOUR AND FRAGRANCE JOURNAL Flavour Fragr. J. 2002; 17: 9–12 DOI: 10.1002/ffj.1035 Volatile constituents of different plant parts of Chamomilla recutita L. Rausch grown in the Indo-Gangetic plains Moumita Das, 1 Govind Ram, 1 Archana Singh, 1 Gopal R. Mallavarapu, 2 Srinivasaiyer Ramesh, 2 Muni Ram 1 and Sushil Kumar 1Ł 1 Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, PO CIMAP, Lucknow-226015, India 2 Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Field Station, GKVK PO, Bangalore-560 065, India Received 6 June 1999 Revised 11 June 2001 Accepted 11 June 2001 ABSTRACT: The composition of the volatile oils obtained from the entire capitula, disc florets, ray florets, leaves, stems and roots of Chamomilla recutita L. Rausch, grown at Lucknow, located in the Indo-Gangetic plain region in India, have been investigated by GC and GC–MS. A comparative study of oil composition from the capitula, disc florets and ray florets showed that the oils of whole capitula and disc florets contained higher concentrations of 6-methyl-hept-5-en-2-one, Artemisia ketone, (E)-ˇ-farnesene, ˛-bisabolol oxide B, ˛-bisabolol, ˛-bisabolol oxide A and (Z)-en-yn-dicycloether than in the oil of ray florets. The oil of ray florets contained higher amounts of linalool, nerol and ˛-bisabolone oxide A. The oils of leaves, stems and roots were devoid of chamazulene and a large variation in the composition of these oils was observed. Limonene was found in high concentration in the oil of stems, whereas (E)-˛-farnesene was present in large amounts in the leaf and root oil. ˛-Humulene, hexadec-11-yn-13,15, diene, isophytol and phytol were found for the first time in C. recutita. Copyright  2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY WORDS: Chamomilla recutita; Asteraceae; capitula essential oil; floret oils; leaf and stem oil; root oil; Artemisia ketone; (E)-ˇ-farnesene; ˛-bisabolol oxides A and B; ˛-bisabolol; (Z)-en-yn-dicycloether Introduction Chamomilla recutita L. Rausch. (syn. Matricaria chamomilla L.; Family Asteraceae), popularly known as German chamomile, is a well-studied medicinal plant. 1 The essential oil from the flowers of the plant was reported to possess antiphlogistic and antimicrobial activities. 1–3 It is used in several medicinal preparations in Europe and in the traditional Unani system of medicine prevalent in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. 1 The flower oil is also of value in the flavour, perfumery and cosmetic industries. The composition of the oil produced in European countries and North and South America is well known. 1–3 The main constituents of the oil are (E)-ˇ-farnesene, ˛-bisabolol, ˛-bisabolol oxides A and B, chamazulene, and (Z)- en-yn-dicycloether. All these compounds, except (E)- ˇ-farnesene, were reported to have different levels of antiphlogistic activity. The flowers, leaves and roots were reported to be used in herbal teas in Europe and *Correspondence to: S. Kumar, National Centre for Plant Genome Research (NCPGR), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Campus, Post Bag No. 10531, New Delhi 110 067, India. America. 3 German chamomile was introduced into India three centuries ago and is cultivated to a small extent in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu-Kashmir States. 4–5 The composition of chamomile oil from India has not been investigated in detail. Very early investigations on the oil from India reported the identification of geraniol, perillyl alcohol, n-caproic acid and a cadalene sesquiterpene. 6 Recently, we reported the composition of the oils of the flowers of three genotypes of C. recutita grown in North India during the winter season. 7 As the crop of C. recutita can be maintained from October to April, it is possible to have two crops, one during early winter in November – February and the other during January–April. Accommodation of chamomile between October and February will permit planting of fields vacated by chamomile with menthol mint (Mentha arvensis ), an important industrial crop of the area. Since the oil contents and compositions of the oils of different parts are likely to be different in chamomile, we have investigated the composition of the oils hydrodistilled from different parts of the plant, such as complete flowers (capitula), disc florets, ray florets, leaf, stem and root of C. recutita, of the variety Vallary, 8 grown in the Indo-Gangetic plains and harvested during February. The Copyright  2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.