Comparison of the volatile oil composition of three Atalantia species.

The members of the genus Atalantia belonging to the family Rutaceae have many uses in traditional medicine. The aim of the present study was to investigate and compare the chemical composition of essential oils of three species of Atalantia namely Atalantia monophylla (Roxb.) DC., Atalantia racemosa Wight. and Atalantia wightii Tanaka. The extract percentage of the obtained essential oil was found to be 0.2, 0.17 and 0.31% in A. monophylla, A. racemosa and A. wightii respectively. The major compounds identified were alpha-Asarone (28.82%), Sabinene (13.19%), Eugenol methyl ether (12.71%), 1,2-Dimethoxy-4-(2-methoxyethenyl)benzene (11.63%) and beta-Pinene (5.3%) in the essential oil of A. monophylla. In A. racemosa, T-Cadinol (11.08%), Caryophyllene oxide (9.78%), beta-Caryophyllene (9.20%), Spathulenol (7.21%), beta-Phellandrene (5.67%) and Decanal (4.01%) and in A. wightii beta-Caryophyllene (16.37%), D-Limnonene (12.15%), Decanal (10.49%), beta-Myrcene (7.67%), Tetradecanal (6.99%), Caryophyllene oxide (6.29%) and Hexadecylene oxide (5.87%) were the main constituents. Sesquiterpenes were the major class of compounds in A. racemosa and A. wightii, while in A. monophylla the essential oil was predominated by ether compounds. The results showed that GC/MS analysis of essential oils is a significant step in the bio-chemical profiling and bio-prospecting of Atalantia species.