The inflorescence and leaf essential oils of Tanacetum vulgare L. var. vulgare growing wild in Lithuania

Forty samples of inflorescences and leaves of wild Tanacetum vulgare L. var. vulgare were collected in 20 habitats from Lithuania. The essential oils were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The 57 identified compounds in the oils made up 80.7-99.6%. According to the cluster analysis the volatile oils were divided into four groups with 1,8-cineole (23.6-46.3%, 11 oils), transthujone (35.7-78.4%, 6 samples), camphor (19.8-61.8%, 17 oils) and myrtenol (13.1-24.9%, 6 samples) as main constituents. The inflorescences and leaves of tansy plants formed the oils with the same dominating constituent in 15 of the 20 habitats investigated. The leaves in five localities produced oils of the 1,8-cineole chemotype, while the inflorescences biosynthesized oils of the camphor type in three habitats and of the myrtenol type in two habitats. Amounts of the 1,8-cineole in all leaf oils were greater than that in inflorescence oils of the plants from the same locality. An opposite correlation was determined for camphor, myrtenol, cis- and transthujone. The myrtenol chemotype was not noticed earlier in the essential oils of T. vulgare. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.