ANALYSIS OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL OF NEPETA SINTENISII BORNM. FROM IRAN

Abstract

Nepeta is a one of the most important genera of the Lamiaceae family with regard to the number of species. Some species of this genus are important medicinal plants and their extracts have been used for medicinal purposes. In this investigation aerial parts of Nepeta sintenisii Bornm. was subjected to hydrodistillation and the chemical composition of the isolated essential oil was analyzed by GC/MS method for first time. Forty constituents (96.5% of the total oil) were identified of which 4aβ,7α,7aβ-nepetalactone (23.4%), elemol (16.1%), E-β-farnesene (9.5%), 1,8-cineole (8.2%), cis-sabinene hydrate (6.5%), β-bisabolene (4.2%) and germacrene-D (3.5%) were the main components. The constituents of the volatile oil of N. sintenisii is similar to the composition of the other Nepeta genus.