Essential Oil Composition of Stems and Fruits of Caralluma europaea N.E.Br. (Apocynaceae).docVIP

Molecules 2010, 15, 627-638; doi:10.3390/moleculeOPEN ACCESS molecules ISSN 1420-3049 /journal/molecules Article Essential Oil Composition of Stems and Fruits of Caralluma europaea N.E.Br. (Apocynaceae) Pietro Zito 1, Maurizio Sajeva 1,*, Maurizio Bruno 2, Antonella Maggio 2, Sergio Rosselli 2, Carmen Formisano 3 and Felice Senatore 3 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Botaniche, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 38, I-90123 Palermo, Italy 2 Dipartimento di Chimica Organica, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Parco d’Orleans II, I-90128 Palermo, Italy 3 Dipartimento di Chimica delle Sostanze Naturali, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Via D. Montesano, 49, I-80131 Napoli, Italy * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: sajeva@unipa.it; Tel.: +39-091-623-8247; Fax: +39-091-623-8203. Received: 30 December 2009; in revised form: 19 January 2010 / Accepted: 22 January 2010 / Published: 27 January 2010 Abstract: The essential oil of the stems and fruits of Caralluma europaea (Guss.) N.E.Br. (Apocynaceae) from Lampedusa Island has been obtained by hydrodistillation and its composition analyzed. The analyses allowed the identification and quantification of 74 volatile compounds, of which 16 were aromatic and 58 non-aromatic. Stems and fruits contained 1.4% and 2.7% of aromatic compounds respectively, while non-aromatic were 88.3% and 88.8%. Non-aromatic hydrocarbons were the most abundant compounds in both organs, followed by fatty acids. Data showed differences in the profiles between stems and fruits which shared only eighteen compounds; stems accounted for 38 compounds while fruits for 53. Fruits showed a higher diversity especially in aromatic compounds with twelve versus four in stems. Among the volatiles identified in stems and fruits of C. europaea 26 are present in other taxa of Apocynaceae, 52 are semiochemicals for m