Volatile components of leaves and flowers of periwinkle Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don from New Delhi

The hydrodistilled waxy oils of the leaves and flowers of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don cv. Nirmal plants grown at New Delhi were analysed by GC and GC–MS. A total of 52 compounds were identified, accounting for the 91.3% of the leaf oil. Among these the main constituents were as follows: (E,E)‐2,4‐hexadienal (7.7%), citronellol (7.9%), geraniol (7.9%), p‐cresol (4.7%), (Z,E)‐pentadecanal (6.6%), hexadecanoic acid (4.9%), palmitic acid (4.9%) and phytol (6.4%). A total of 41 compounds were identified, accounting for 99.4% of the flower oil, whose main constituents were heneicosane (20.8%), tricosane (37.9%), tetracosane (6.1%) and docosane (4.3%). A total of 24 compounds occurred in both the leaf and flower oils. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.