title: Determination of n-alkane constituents and their phenological variation in the epicuticular wax of mature leaves of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis L.
abstract: The present communication is a first-time report on the analyses of n-alkane profile of epicuticular wax extracted from the mature leaves of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis L. during a calender year. The composition of n-alkanes revealed hentriacontane (n-C31), tritriacontane (n-C33), tetratriacontane (n-C35) and nonacosane (n-C29) as the major constituents with tritriacontane (n-C33) being the dominant constituent. The cumulative percentage of these four odd-numbered alkanes also showed phenological variation being highest during the fruit ripening stage (average value 63.29%) followed by the flowering stage (mean value 60.74%). The values remained moderate on an average of 54.31% for the rest of the year. This study also confirms the xerophytic feature of the plant having higher proportion of longer carbon chain n-alkanes greater than C31 (dominant peaks are of C33 and C35).
authors.affiliation: a Department of Botany , The University of Burdwan , Burdwan 713104 , WB , India.
authors.forename: Irani
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.forename: Sushobhan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ukil
authors.forename: Ambarish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
mesh_terms: D000473:Alkanes / Q000032:analysis*; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D007194:India; D029592:Oleaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D014885:Waxes / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000473:Alkanes; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D014885:Waxes; C049203:hentriacontane; D002244:Carbon; C047577:nonacosane