431 0009-3130/09/4503-0431 © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 1) Ankara University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, 06100 Tandogan, Ankara, Turkey; 2) Anadolu University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, 26470 Eskisehir, Turkey, e-mail: betuldemirci@gmail.com. Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 364–365, May–June, 2009. Original article submitted October 4, 2007. Chemistry of Natural Compounds, Vol. 45, No. 3, 2009 COMPOSITION OF THE FRUIT ESSENTIAL OILS OF FOUR Heptaptera SPECIES GROWING IN TURKEY* Gulderen Yilmaz, 1 Betul Demirci, 2* Mehmet Koyuncu, 1 UDC 547.913 and K. Husnu Can Baser 2 The genus Heptaptera Marg. & Reuter (Umbelliferae) includes 11 species worldwide; among them, H. cilicica (Boiss. & Bal.) Tutin, H. anisoptera (D.C.) Tutin, H. anatolica (Boiss.) Tutin, and H. triquetra (Vent.) Tutin are growing in Turkey [1]. H. cilicica (Boiss. & Bal.), which grows only in Icel, South Anatolia, is an endemic species to Turkey. H. anisoptera (D.C.) Tutin is a species that has a wide distribution in Turkey, W. Iran, N. Iraq, W. Syria, and Palestine, while H. anatolica (Boiss.) Tutin is distributed in Turkey and Yugoslavia. H. triquetra (Vent) Tutin is a species that has a limited distribution in Turkey and Bulgaria [2]. In Turkey H. anisoptera (D.C.) Tutin has a wider distribution than H. anatolica (Boiss.) Tutin and H. triquetra (Vent) Tutin. Heptaptera genus, which shows the general Umbelliferae characteristics, is very similar to the genus Prangos. It only differs from the latter with respect to its fruit, which is strongly compressed dorsally and asymmetrical, and with its stylopodium as wide as the fruit. Although Prangos genus has ethnobotanical applications in Turkey and in the world, Heptaptera genus is not used for any purpose. The present work reports on the essential oil composition of four Heptaptera species from Turkey: H. cilicica, H. anisoptera, H. triquetra, and H. anatolica. The essential oils were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) systems, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. The detected components of the essential oils of Heptaptera species and their relative percentages are given in Table 1 according their relative retention indices (RRI). Sixty-three components were characterized, representing 90.7% of the H. cilicica oil, with nonacosane (38.7%), heptacosane (11.0%), pentacosane (6.2%), hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (4.8%), and (E)-geranyl acetone (3.5%) as the main constituents. A total of twenty-eigth compounds were characterized in H. anisoptera essential oil, representing 97.6% of the total oil. This oil was characterized by a relatively high content of nonacosane (69.0%). Heptacosane (9.5%), hexadecanoic acid (6.9%), pentacosane (2.3%), and octacosane (1.6%) were the other main components. The main components of the essential oil of H. triquetra were nonacosane (42.0%), heptacosane (25.6%), hexadecanoic acid (5.5%), octacosane (3.3%), hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (2.6%), and (E)-geranyl acetone (1.2%). Forty-seven components were characterized in H. triquetra essential oil, representing 96.4% of the total oil. Analysis of the H. anatolica oil revealed thirty-five components, representing 83.8% of the total oil. This oil was characterized by nonacosane (24.1%) and heptacosane (23.3%). To the best of our knowledge, according to a literature survey there is no report on the essential oil constituents of Heptaptera species. Heptaptera cilicica, H. anisoptera, H. triquetra, and H. anatolica were collected in different localities of Turkey (Table 2). Voucher specimens are kept at the Herbarium of Ankara University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ankara, Turkey (AEF). *This work was presented in the 7 th Plant Life of Southwest Asia Symposium (7 th PLoSWA) held between June 25–29, 2007 at Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey. ______