Comparison of essential oil composition of root and aerial part of Chaerophyllum macropodum L

The Umbelliferae family comprising about 300 genera and 3000 species worldwide is also widespread in Iran. The genus Chaerophyllum L. is represented in the flora of Iran by eight species of which two are endemic (Chaerophyllum khorassanicum and Chaerophyllum nivale). In this work, the plant material was collected on 3 July 2005 in Khalkhal area (Ardabil Province) at an altitude of 1950m near Lonbar village, in North–West of Iran. The aerial part and root of plant were air-dried at room temperature for ten days then subjected to hydrodistillation for 3 and 4 hours respectively, using a Clevenger–type apparatus. The analysis of the oils was performed by using GC and GC/MS methods. Eighteen constituents (0.2% V/W) representing 99.2% of the essential oil of aerial part and ten components (96.3%) of the root oil (0.17% V/W) has been identified. The main components of the root oil were myristicin (39.1%), terpinolene (23.0%), E-β-ocimene (21.9%), and γ-terpinene (5.4%). Whereas, the oil of aerial part was characterized by higher amount of E-β-ocimene (24.9%), myristicin (15.7%), terpinolene (14.2%), fenchyl acetate (13.9%), Z-β-ocimene (6.3%) and sabinene (6.1%). The comparison between two sections of plant showed in the root oil, myristicin as a predominated compound over aerial part oil.