Essential oil composition of Cymbopogon martinii from different places in India

The essential oils of Palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinii (Roxb.) Wats. var. motia Burk) flowering herbs from three different geographical locations in India, viz. Hyderabad,Lucknow and Amarawati were analysed by high‐resolution GC and GC –MS. In all three samples, geraniol (67.6 –83.6%) was the major constituent and, although the composition of the three oils was similar, quantitative differences in the concentration of some constituents were observed. The GC and GC –MS analysis of the Hyderabad, Lucknow and Amarawati oils resulted in the identification of 40, 38 and 33 constituents, representing 98.5%, 99.7% and 99.8% of the oils,respectively. Among the three oils analysed, Amarawati oil was of the highest quality due to higher geraniol (83.6%) and lower geranyl acetate (2.3%) and geranial (1.0%) content. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.