The composition of the headspace from fragrant flowers: Further results

Abstract

Abstract The fragrance given off by certain springtime flowers was the subject of a previous communication. We now present the results from further analyses of flower headspaces from cultivated and wild plants (including trees), which bloom at the end of spring and in summer in the Grasse region: Sambucus nigra L. (elder), Ligustrum ovalifolium (privet), Ligustrum vulgare L. (common‐privet), Ailantus glandulosa Desf., Magnolia grandiflora L. and Trachelospermum jasminoides. We bring further information about the composition of the headspace from Philadelphia coronarius L. flowers (seringat), which were only briefly reported in our first communication. We confirm that the odoriferous emissions from flowers contain some chemical substances which are not readily detected in the corresponding extraction or hydrodistillation products. Such constituents include, for example, terpenoids and aliphatic amino acid derivatives, some of which may be considered as new natural products.