The Essential Oil and Glycosidically Bound Volatile Compounds of<i>Taxus canadensis</i>Marsh

Abstract

ABSTRACT The essential oil of the conifer Taxus canadensis, also called the Canadian yew, from the region of Saguenay—Lac-St.-Jean, Québec, was analyzed using both GC/MS and retention indices. We identified eighteen compounds in the oil including the aliphatic alcohol, l-octen-3-ol as the major component (40%). The glycoside composition was also examined, we identified sixteen aglycones including the two major components, l-octen-3-ol (30%) and 3, 5-dimethoxyphenol (40%). The yield in glycosidically bound volatile compounds (0.09%) is three times more than the yield in essential oil (0.03%), which, in turn, is much less than the yield frequently observed in other conifers (0.5–1.0%). KEY WORD INDEX: Taxus Canadensis TaxaceaeCanadian yewessential oil compositionl-octen-3-olglycosides