CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF ESSENTIAL OILS FROM THE BUDS AND LEAVES OF CULTIVATED HAZELNUT

Essential oils are the volatile, aromatic oils obtained by steam or hydro distillation of botanical material. Different parts of the plants can be used to obtain essential oils, including the flowers, leaves, seeds, roots, stems, bark, wood, etc. There are many ways in which these aroma substances can be used in our life, but more importantly benefits are therapeutic properties of the oils. Distillation of buds and leaves of hazelnut (Corylus L.) grown in Poland revealed the presence of essential oils at efficiencies of 0.49% and 1.01%, respectively. The profile of physicochemical properties of achieved oils was determined, i.e.: density d(20) (g.ml), refractive index, and optical rotation. The GC/MS analysis allowed for detecting 43 compounds in buds, among which 35 were identified, as well as 42 compounds in leaves, including 37 identified ones. Hydrocarbons and monoterpene alcohols were the main components of examined essential oils. Following compounds dominated in the oil made from hazel buds: nerol (20.6%), myrtenol (19.5%), alpha-campholenol (4.7%), and p-cymene (3.7%), while hazel leaves contained prevailing amounts of: nerol (13.0%), myrtenol (9.4%), alpha-campholenol (9.0%), menthol (6.7%), geraniol (4.8%), and limonene (3.9%). The qualitative differences between constituents of essential oils made of both studied materials were found.