Essential Oils and Chromosome Numbers From ItalianAchilleaSpecies

Abstract

Essential oils of five Achillea species, A. ptarmica, A. erba-rotta, A. moschata, A. nana and A. nobilis, growing spontaneously in the Northwest Italian Alps were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Several monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and phenols were identified. Camphor and 1,8 cineole were the major constituents of A. erba-rotta, whereas germacrene D was particularly abundant in A. ptarmica and A. nobilis. A. moschata oil contained mainly terpinen-4-ol whereas trans- and cis-isoeugenol were present in good percentages in A. nana. The caryological analyses revealed a diploid (2n = 18) chromosome number for all plants. The absence in the essential oil of proazulene compounds was related to the diploid (2n = 18) chromosome number of the above mentioned species.