Essential Oil Composition of the Inflorescence of Artemisia capillaris Thunb. Collected at Different Stages of Flowering from Kumaon Region of Western Himalaya

The essential oils obtained from Artemisia capillaris at different stages of flowering were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The main components of this oil were capillene, g-terpinene, eugenol, limonene, p-cymene, myrcene and a-pinene. Capillene (40.1%), a-pinene (2.4%) and p-cymene (2.5%) were higher in the oil obtained from plants collected during full bloom stage, while g-terpinene (24.6%) and eugenol (15.0%) were the main components of the oil from the seed setting stage. Characteristic of the oil was the presence of the rarely occurring compounds like capillene and norcapillene.