Phytochemical studies on the essential oils of species belonging to theAchillea genus by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Abstract

Several populations of Achillea species were collected from Hungarian localities. The characteristic composition cf the essential oils of almost 220 populations were determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The main component of Achillea asplenifolia, A. setacea and A. collina oils is chamazulene, with a molecular mass of 184. The composition of some A. setacea is different: instead of chamazulene it contains a significant amount of farnesene. Oils of A. distans, A. crithmifolia, A. nobilis, A. pannonica and A. ochroleuca contain some different and specific compounds instead of chamazulene. During the analysis of many essential oils, we found some very interesting differences within species originating from another geographical area.