Chemical composition of essential oils of two submerged macrophytes, Ceratophyllum demersum L. and Vallisneria spiralis L.

The essential oils from leaves of Ceratophyllum demersum L. and Vallisneria spiralis L. from China were isolated by steam distillation in yields of 0.15% and 0.10%, respectively, and their chemical composition was examined by GC and GC-MS. More than 50 constituents were identified, representing 87% of the total oils. The main components were basically the same in the two plants' essential oils. 2-Methylpropanoic acid 3-hydroxy-2,4,4-trimethylpentyl ester (> 15%), 2-methylpropanoic acid 2,2-dimethyl-1-(2-hydroxy-l-methylethyl)propyl ester (> 3%), P-ionone-5,6-epoxide (> 7%), toluene (> 6%), hexanal (> 5%) and 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid di(2-methylpropyl) ester (> 5%) were the major components. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.