Abstract
The essential oil of the flower heads of scentless mayweed (M. perforata Mérat) was investigated. It consists of more than 50 compounds; 26 of them, together representing about 95.2% of the total oil, were identified by GC, GC/MS, and partly by 1H-NMR and UV. They can be classified into polyacetylenes (88.8%), sesquiterpenoids (5.8%), monoterpenoids (0.1%), fatty acids (0.3%), and miscellaneous compounds (5.0%). The oil was dominated by 2Z,8Z-matricaria ester (ME; 75.2%), which was accompanied by several other characteristic polyines, occurring in much lower concentrations: e.g. 8Z-2,3-dihydro-ME, 2E- and 2Z-lachnophyllum ester, 2E-dehydro-ME, and 5E,9Z-matricaria lactone.
Key words
Matricaria perforata
- scentless mayweed - Asteraceae - flower essential oil - polyacetylenes - matricaria esters
