Essential oil of Actinidia macrosperma, a catnip response kiwi endemic to China.
OBJECTIVE
To identify compounds that may be responsible for catnip response of Actinidia macrosperma, and compare chemical compositions in the wild and in vitro regenerated plants.


METHODS
GC-MS and relative retention indices with n-alkanes as reference points were used for compound identification, and component relative percentage was calculated based on GC peak areas without using correction factors.


RESULTS
There are 28 compounds (92.72%) and 15 compounds (93.88%) identified in the essential oils from the wild and regenerated plants, respectively. Dihydronepetalactone, iridomyrmecin, and dihydroactinidiolide, which are believed to be attractive to felines, are present in both wild and regenerated plants. Actinine was not detected, and beta-pheylethyl alcohol was only present in wild plant. In addition, short-chain enol derivatives, messengers in chemical communication, are commonly present in wild plant of A. macrosperma, but absent in regenerated one.


CONCLUSIONS
Dihydronepetalactone, iridomyrmecin, and dihydroactinidiolide are responsible for the catnip response of A. macrosperma.
Zhao
Yun-peng
YP
Research Program for Medicinal Plant Resource, Lab of Systematic & Evolutionary Botany and Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Wang
Xiao-yun
XY
Wang
Zhi-can
ZC
Lu
Yin
Y
Fu
Cheng-xin
CX
Chen
Shao-yuan
SY
D029042:Actinidia / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D002681:China; D027521:Nepeta / Q000737:chemistry*; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000032:analysis*
D009822:Oils, Volatile