Aromatic Plants of Mali (IV): Chemical Composition of Essential Oils of<i>Cymbopogon citratus</i>(DC) Stapf and<i>C. giganteus</i>(Hochst.) Chiov.

Abstract

Abstract The composition of the essential oils of Cymbopogon citratus and C. giganteus from Mali and the Ivory Coast were determined by GC and GC/MS, and they were found to contain 19 and 27 constituents, respectively. C. citratus oil from Mali contained a high proportion of citral (approx. 75%) (geranial/neral ca 2/1), some myrcene (6.2–9.1%) and geraniol (3.0–5.6%). It differed from the oil of the Ivory Coast in which the contents of geranial, neral and myrcene each ranged between 18–35%. C. giganteus oil was characterized by high proportions of cis- and trans-p-mentha-l(7),8-dien-2-ols (approx. 50%) and p-mentha-2,8-dien-l-ols (approx. 25%) together with isopiperitenol-carveol (approx. 10%) and traces of carvone (<5%). Key Word Index: Cymbopogon citratus Cymbopogon giganteus Poaceaeessential oil compositiongeranialneralp-mentha-1(7),8-dien-2-olp-mentha-2,8-dien-1-ol