Composition of volatile organic compounds in flowers of Astragalus sahendi.

A hydrodistillation sampling method, coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, was used in monitoring the volatile organic compounds in flowers of Astragalus sahendi. Accordingly, a total of 48 compounds were recognised, which were united by their terpenoid or aliphatic skeletons and low molecular weight. Above all, the significant presence of some insect-favoured terpenoid compounds, such as farnesol, cis- and trans-geraniol, alpha-bisabolol, nerolidol isomer, alpha-terpineol, alpha-terpinolene and thymol was significant. These findings confer a better understanding of pollination processes in the giant genus Astragalus. Furthermore, the results add to an increasing quantity of data corroborating the ecologic and evolutionary correlation between the floral bioactive compounds of plant species and their special types of pollinators.