Flavour volatiles of leaves, fruits and seed cotyledons ofMurraya koenigii L.

Abstract

The flavour volatile constituents of seed cotyledons, fruits and leaves of Murraya koenigii L. (curry leaf plant), grown in Hyderabad, India, were analysed by GC–MS and compared with curry leaf flavour constituents. These consist of monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. The major constituents of curry leaf are monoterpenes (70%); seed cotyledons (86%), constituting α-pinene (52%) and cis-ß-ocimene (34%); raw fruit oil containing monoterpenes (80%) and oxygenated monoterpenes (4.8%); and fruit pulp oil containing monoterpenes (61%). The present findings constitute the first report of volatile constituents of parts of Murraya koenigii L. other than the leaves. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.