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A high performance liquid chromatographic method combined with diode array detection is described by which the valerian constituents valtrate, isovaltrate, acevaltrate, didrovaltrate, isovaleroxyhydroxydidrovaltrate, valerenic acid, hydroxyvalerenic acid and acetoxyvalerenic acid, as well as the valepotriate decomposition products baldrinal and homobaldrinal, can be separated and identified simultaneously. Using this procedure, roots of Valeriana officinalis, which are used for the production of phytomedicines, were analysed. The influence of different ethanol:water mixtures, used as extraction liquid, on the composition of extracts of V. officinalis is reported. The analytical procedure was also applied to a number of valerian‐containing phytomedicines available on the Dutch market. In order to study the stability of the valepotriates and the formation of their decomposition product(s), samples of freshly prepared valerian tinctures were analysed after being stored at 4, 20, and 36°C for up to one month.

The chemical composition of the essential oils from the rhizomes of five Curcuma species from Indonesia and India was examined by GC-MS. The oils can be characterized by the following compounds: C. xanthorrhiza Roxb.: arcurcumene (41.4 %), xanthorrhizol (21.5 %); c. domestica Val.: ar-turmerone (24.7 %), turmerone (29.5 %), turmerol (20.073, a-atlantone (2.4 %); C. aromatica Salisb.: ar-curcumene (18.6 %), B-curcumene (25.5 %), xanthorrhizol (25.7 %); C. aeruginosa Roxb.: isocurcumenol (8.5 %), /?-eudesmol (6.5 %), curdione (3.6 %), curcumenol (9.9 %), curcumanolides A,B (1 1.4 %), dehydrocurdione (9.4 %), curcumenone (1.9 %); C. heyneana Val.: 1,8-cineole/lirnonene (14.2 %), isocurcumenol (7.4 %), /?-eudesmol (4.7 %), curcumanolides A,B (1 3.1 %), dehydrocurdione (10.2 %), curcumenone (2.3 %).

The composition of the essential oil of Zingiber cassumunar Roxb. from Indonesia was examined by GC and GC-MS. A major part of the oil consists of monoterpenes with sabinene and terpinen-4-01 as main constituents. Sesquiterpenes accounted for a small part of the oil with sesquiphellandrene being the principal constituent. In addition to these terpenes the oil contains a number of phenylbutanoids. The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation contained about 25 % of these phenylbutanoids whereas the oil obtained by extraction with light petroleum had about 46 %, with trans-l-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyI)but-l-ene, trans-l-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyI)butadiene and trans-4-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)but-3-ene-l-y1 acetate as the main constituents.

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