Composition of the Volatile Oils of<i>Alpinia galanga</i>Rhizomes and Leaves from India

Abstract

Abstract The essential oils of the rhizomes and the leaves of Alpinia galanga Willd. from Bangalore and Hyderabad in India were analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS. The oils of the rhizomes and the leaves from the two places were found to contain similar constituents. The rhizome oils from Bangalore and Hyderabad contained limonene (3.7% and 3.5 %, respectively), 1,8-cineole (33.0% and 30.2 %, respectively), camphor (5.0% and 14.0%, respectively), α-terpineol (9.3 % and 2.3 %, respectively), α-fenchyl acetate (12.7 % and 1.1 %, respectively) and (E)-methyl cinnamate (5.3 % and 2.6 %, respectively), as the major constituents. The major constituents of the leaf oils from the same locations were: α-pinene (6.6 % and 6.3 %, respectively), camphene (5.0 % and 5.1%, respectively), β-pinene (21.5 % and 23.5 %, respectively), 1,8-cineole (34.4 % and 30.7%, respectively) and camphor (7.8 % and 12.8 %, respectively).