Zhang Xinhua

Essential Oils Composition from Roots of Santalum album L.

Abstract Essential oil from the roots of East Indian sandalwood, Santalum album L. was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The root bark and sapwood yielded no extract. The heartwood of the plant yielded 10.3 % of oil by solvent extraction. Fifty-three compounds were detected, representing 99.9 % of the total oil. Forty-five of them were identified by close matches with standard mass spectra and those reported in the literature and by retention indices, which included 30 sesquiterpenols (78.5 %), 9 sesquiterpenes (7.8 %), 1 terpenoic acid (0.4 %), and 5 sesquiterpenoid isomers (4.4 %). The major constituents in the essential oils were α- and β-santalol, accounting for 19.6 and 16.0 %, respectively. The content of α-santalol was less than a proposed range of 41–55 %; however, β-santalol content was close to the specification of ≥ 18 %. The total content of bisabolenol A, B, C, D and their isomers was also high, 25.0 % of the oil.