title: Volatile components of two endemic species from the Apuan Alps (Tuscany, Italy), Centaurea arachnoidea and C. montis-borlae (Asteraceae).
abstract: The volatile fractions of Centaurea arachnoidea and C. montis-borlae, two endemic species growing wild in the Apuan Alps (Tuscany, Italy), were isolated by steam distillation from fresh leaves and flowerheads, and analyzed by GC/FID and GC/MS. The yield of essential oil ranged from 0.01% to 0.09% of fresh material. A wide variety of volatile compounds was detected in the examined plant species and organs, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. Sesquiterpenes were the major constituents, ranging from 18.9% to 73.2% of the total oil. Alcohols (1.6-25.8%), aldehydes (1.5-12.0%), hydrocarbons (1.8-11.9%), acids (0.2-25.4%), esters (0.2-1.3%), monoterpenes (0.7-1.4%), and miscellaneous compounds (0.6-2.6%), were also detected in variable amounts in all different sample tissues. A series of unidentified compounds was also isolated from the two species, both in leaves and flowerheads, accounting for 2.4-6.7% of the total oil. According to MS spectral data, these substances were likely to be polyunsaturated compounds; moreover, they appear to be species-specific, as their presence was only detected in either one or the other Centaurea species.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Unità di Botanica Generale e Sistematica, Università di Pisa, via L. Ghini 5, 56126 Pisa, Italy. lviegi@biologia.unipi.it
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Viegi
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boracchia
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cecotti
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tava
mesh_terms: D031179:Centaurea / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D007558:Italy; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000032:analysis*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D009822:Oils, Volatile; D012717:Sesquiterpenes