Essential oil composition of kewda (Pandanus odoratissimus) from India

The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of staminate inflorescences of kewda (Pandanus odoratissimus L.) has been compared with the kewda oil from the local market. Both the oils were subjected to high-resolution GC and GC-MS, which resulted in the identification and quantification of 85 and 59 components, amounting to 98.7% and 98.6% of the total oils, respectively. The major components of the hydrodistilled kewda oil were 2-phenyl ethyl methyl ether (37.7%), terpinen-4-ol (18.6%), alpha-terpineol (8.3%) and 2-phenyl ethyl alcohol (7.5%), whereas the major constituents of kewda oil from the local market were 2-phenyl ethyl alcohol (33.2%), 2-phenyl ethyl methyl ether (16.1%), benzyl benzoate (11.0%), viridine (8.8%) and germacrene B (8.3%). Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.