Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil from Stems and Flowers of Malabaila secacul (Miller) Boiss. from Northeast Iran

The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of the stems and flowers of Malabaila secacul (Miller) Boiss. (Apiaceae), growing wild in Khorasan province, Iran, were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Fourteen compounds representing 88.0 % of the stem oil of Malabaila secacul were identified. Of these, beta-elemene (18.5 %), beta-selinene (17.5%) and germacrone (16.0 %) were the major components. The oil from the flower was characterized by a higher amount of hexyl 3-methyl butyrate (26.3 %), beta-elemene (15.8 %), hexyl 2-methyl butyrate (14.9 %) and hexyl butyrate (10.6 %) among the twenty detected components comprising 97.7 % of the total oil. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (60.8 %) in the stem oil and nonterpene hydrocarbons (66.0 %) in the flower oil were the predominant components.