Steam-distilled volatile oils from the leaves and flowers of Lantana camara L. were analysed by GC and GC-MS. The oils are characterized by a high percentage of sesquiterpenes. The main components detected are germacrene D (15.85%), β-caryophyllene (12.35%), α-humulene (9.31%) and germacrene-B (6.19%). 1,8-Cineole (4.61%), an oxygenated monoterpene is also reported.
Experimental Plant Material and Extraction of VolatilesAerial parts of L. camara were collected from the campus of South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, in August-September. Fresh leaves, flowers and thin branches were cut into 1-2 cm pieces, air-dried for 7 days at room temperature and steam-distilled for 5 h furnishing 0.13-0.2% (v/w) oils. The oils were dried over anhydrous Na 2 SO 4 and kept refrigerated until used.
Analysis of the Essential OilsComponents of the volatile oil were separated on a Finnigan TRACE 2000 GC-MS instrument (FinniganSpectronex, USA), equipped with two fused-silica column (30 mm × 0.25 mm i.d.), coated with DB-1 (df = 0.25 µm); temperature programme, from 60°C (for 2 min) to 80°C at 3°C/min; 80-120°C at 6°C/min (held 0 min); 120-140°C at 3°C/min (held 0 min); then to 230°C at 10°C/min (held 0 min) and later, 240°C (held 1 min); injector temperature, 220°C; ion source temperature, 200°C; EI, 70 eV; carrier gas, He, 1 ml/min; injection volume, l µl; split, 1:20; mass range, 35-450 amu.