Vol. 21, September/October 2009 Journal of Essential Oil Research/435 Received: August 2007 Revised: November 2007 Accepted: January 2008 Study of the Oil Constituents Extracted From Aerial Parts of Pimpinella aurea DC. From Central Iran Javad Safaei-Ghomi* and Zahra Djafari-Bidgoli, The Essential Oil Research Center, University of Kashan, 51167 Kashan, I. R. Iran; Fax: +983615552935; E-mail: safaei@kashanu.ac.ir Hossein Batooli, Isfahan Research Center of Natural Sources, Kashan Station, Kashan, I. R. Iran Abstract The dried aerial parts of Pimpinella aurea DC., which belongs to Apiaceae family and grows in central Iran, were hydrodistilled to produce oils in the yield of 0.30% (v/w). The oils were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Twenty-six compounds were identified, representing 96.27% of the oils. The main components were b-caryophyllene (13.6%), b-bisabolene (12.2%), (E)-b-farnesene (10.4%) and b-sesquiphellandrene (10.2%). Key Word Index Pimpinella aurea, Apiaceae, essential oil compostion, b-sesquiphellandrene, b-caryophyllene, (E)-b-farnesene, b-bisabolene. 1041-2905/09/0005-0435$14.00/0—© 2009 Allured Business Media *Address for correspondence Introduction The genus Pimpinella from the Apiaceae family is rep- resented by 150 species and is distributed extensively in the northern hemisphere (1). Pimpinella aurea DC. is one of the 20 species growing in different regions of Iran, and also dis- tributed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Greece, Pakistan, Turkey and Syria (2). Some of the members of this genus were cultivated by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans for their aromatic seeds used in medicine and as a condiment (3). The essential oils from the fruits of some Pimpinella species are also valued in perfumery and in medicine (4,5). Extracts and essential oils of Pimpinella species are known to have a high content of phenylpropanoid derivatives (6). These components that have been isolated from P. aurea (7,8) reported various bioactivities such as anti-germination, insecticidal, weak anti-tumor, anti- malarial, anti-microbial and anti-fungal (7,9–11). Pimpinella aurea is used in animal feeds to increase milk production in eastern and southeastern Turkey (12). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the essential oil of the aerial part of P. aurea, Persian name “jafari kohi zard,” has not been considered before. The focus of this study was the determination of the chemical composition of its hydrodistilled essential oil. Experimental Plant material: The aerial parts (leaves and flowers/inflo- rescences) of Pimpinella aurea DC. were collected from the Kashan area (Isfahan Province, central Iran) at an altitude of ca. 1985 m in July 2006 and were dried in the shade at room temperature. The voucher specimens of the plant were depos- ited in the Herbarium of Kashan Botanical Garden, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Kashan, Iran. Isolation procedure: The air-dried aerial parts of the plant (125 g) were powdered and the volatile fraction was isolated by hydrodistillation method in an all-glass Clevenger-type ap- paratus for 3.5 h according to the method recommended in the European Pharmacopoeia (13). After decanting, the yellow oil (0.38 mL) was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and stored in vial at low temperature (4°C) before analysis. GC and GC/MS analyses: The oil was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. GC analysis of oil was conducted using a Hewlett- Packard 6890 gas chromatograph equipped with a FID detector and a HP-5MS fused silica column (30 m × 0.25 mm, 0.25 mm film thickness). The column temperature was kept at 50°C for 3 min, programmed to reach 130°C at a rate of 3°C /min, held at 130°C for 2 min, then programmed to reach 200°C at the rate of 2°C/min, held at 200°C for 3 min, and finally programmed to reach 270°C at the rate of 8°C/min. Injector and detector (FID) temperatures were 280°C; carrier gas was He with a flow of 1 mL/min; volume injected, 0.1 mL of the oil in pentane (0.001%); split ratio, 1:10. GC/MS analysis was performed on an Agilent HP-6890 gas chromatograph equipped with a mass Agilent HP-5973 and a HP-5MS 5% P. aurea