Ayşe Betül Avci

Essential oil composition of Cymbocarpum erythraeum (DC.) Boiss. from Turkey.

The aim of this study was to determine the essential oil content and composition of Cymbocarpum erythraeum (DC.) Boiss., a rare species spread in flora of Turkey. The samples were collected during the fructifying period of the plant from Erzincan, Turkey, at an altitude of 2430 m, in 2010. Essential oils were obtained from different parts of the plant such as fruits and herbal parts with Clevenger apparatus by hydro-distillation. Essential oil contents of the plant material were 0.38 ± 0.015%, 0.23 ± 0.012% and 0.21 ± 0.015% from fruits, herbal parts with fruits and herbal parts without fruits, respectively. Composition of essential oil was identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The essential oil of the herbal parts of the plant was dominated by fatty alcohols and aldehydes which accounted for 73.10% and 24.64%, respectively. Myristyl alcohol (1-tetradecanol) was identified as a major component of essential oil with an average content of 73.10%.

Variation in Essential Oil Content and Composition of Crimean Juniper (Juniperus excelsa) Berries during the Growth Periods

The study was carried out on content and constituents of essential oil distilled from berries collected from Crimean Juniper (Juniperus excelsa) trees (called genotype in the paper) in a natural population. The immature and mature berries were collected from the trees in different aspects at the beginning, middle and end of growth period of 2010. The essential oil was obtained from berries by hydrodistillation. Its content and major constituents were compared for genotype, aspect and collection period. Environmental and genotypic effects on the content and constituent were also investigated. Results showed that while average of essential oil content was 2 %, it was 1.2 %, 2.3 % and 2.5 % for beginning, middle and end of growth periods, respectively. Eighty-eight constituents representing 99.2 % of the total essential oil were identified in different growth periods. The numbers of constituent were 30 at the beginning, 88 at the middle and 65 at the end of growth periods, while α-cedrol and α-pinene were major constituents. Averages of α-cedrol and α-pinene contents were 42.8 % and 17.4 %, respectively. The differences of the essential oil and major constituent contents were larger for growth periods than that of aspect and genotypes. Variation within clones was higher than that of among clones for the content of essential oil and major constituents. The result emphasized that non-genetic factors (i.e., collection period, aspect) were more important for the essential oil production and constituents of genotypes than their genetic constitution.

Essential Oil in Taurus Cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich) Seeds

Abstract This study was carried out to determine potential of essential oil isolated from seeds of Taurus cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich), occupied mainly in Turkey. Rate and components of essential oil were studied on the seeds sampled from 25 open pollinated families of each three natural populations of the species in 2009. Heritability and variations within population and among populations were estimated for rate and components of essential oil. Besides, the rate and components of essential oil were compared for altitude, aspect, age and diameter at breast height. Average of essential oil rate was 1.82 %, while there were large differences among populations and within population for the rate. Totally, 137 components were determined, while α-pinene (27.08 %) and β-pinene (20.35 %) were major components in the oil. Significant differences (p<0.05) were found among populations, and generally age, altitude, and diameter classes for the rate and components. Heritability was very low (0.27) for the oil rate, while it was very high (>0.78) for the rate of major components. Results of the study showed importance of selected material for quality and quantity of essential oil.