Chemical composition of the essential oil of Nepeta menthoides Boiss & Buhse

Nepeta menthoides is an endemic specious of North West and Azarbaijan province of Iran. Samples of the plant have been collected from Sahand Mountain and its essential oil was studied. The essential oil of Nepeta menthoides was extracted by Clevenger apparatus and its component was analyzed by means of GC-MS. From eighteen constituents representing 97.07% of the oil, 4aα, 7a, 7aα neptalactone (36.85%), 1.8-cineole (31.29%), 1-terpinene-4-ol (4.39%), α-terpineole (4.2%) geranyl acetat (3.5%). neryl acetat (3.5%) and β-pinene (3.39%) were the major components of the oil. The finding of the present study and previously published one suggest that two chemotypes of oil: neptalactone and 1.8-cineole may be present in Nepeta menthoides.