Essential Oil Composition of Libanotis buchtormensis from Taibai Mountain in China

The Libanotis (Apiaceae family) genus consists of about 60 species widespread in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania [1]. Eighteen Species (eight endemic) are found in China. Most of them grow in grassy places, riverbanks, scrublands, valleys, and sunny rocky slopes at altitudes from 400 to 4100 m [2]. In Chinese traditional medicine, some Libanotis species were reported in ancient literature as having various healing effects. The roots of Libanotis buchtormensis (Fischer) DC., a wild plant growing in northwest areas of China, are known as “Yan Feng” and are used as a herbal remedy for inflammation, rheumatism, pain, and the common cold [2], while the roots of Libanotis laticalycina, named “ Fang Feng” and growing wildly in Hebei, Henan, and Shanxi of China, have been revealed to cure cold, fever, headache, rheumatism, quadriplegia, and stomach ache [1]. Furthermore, the biological activities of Libanotis genus, including anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic [3], and spasmolytic effects [4], have been reported. Investigating the composition of the essential oils from some Libanotis genus has become a focus for researching the biological activity of these compounds [5–8]. Although the composition of the essential oil from Libanotis buchtormensis depending on the period of the raw material storage [9] and the altitudes of the Altai region [10] has been revealed, so far, there are no reports on the chemical composit ion of the essential oils from the flowers and the fruits of L. buchtormensis. Here, we report on the analysis of the oils from the flowers and fruits of L. buchtormensis by GC and GC-MS [18]. The percentage composition of the essential oils is listed in Table 1 along with the retention indices of the identified compounds, where all constituents are arranged in order of their elution on the DB-5MS column. The classification of the identified compounds based on functional groups is summarized at the end of Table 1. It is evident in Table 1 that there are many qualitative similarities between the two oils, although the amounts of some compounds are different. Furthermore, epiglobulol, germacrene D, β-phellandrene, and α-phellandrene are the major components of the two essential oils. These results indicate that L. buchtormensis is a rich source of epiglobulol and germacrene D used as a flavoring agent in the food and perfume industries.