Constituents of essential oils from leaves and seeds of <i>Foeniculum vulgare</i> Mill. cultivated in Bangladesh

Abstract

Analysis of essential oils obtained from the seeds and leaves of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. cultivated in Bangladesh revealed that anethole was the major constituent (58.5% in seed oil and 51.1% in leaf oil), followed by limonene (19.6% in seed oil and 22.9% in leaf oil). Other components present in leaf oil included anisaldehyde, fenchyl acetate and fenchone, while seed oil contained fenchone, α-pinene, fenchyl acetate, γ-terpinene and anisaldehyde. Besides, minor constituents like camphene, camphor, myrcene, pahllandrene, ocimene, β-bisabolene and apiol were obtained from seeds and leaves. Key words: Foeniculum vulgare Mill; Essential oil; Anethole; Limonene; BangladeshDOI: 10.3329/bjb.v38i2.5144 Bangladesh J. Bot. 38(2): 181-183, 2009 (December)