Variability of the essential oils composition of Achillea millefolium ssp millefolium growing wild in Lithuania

Forty samples of inflorescences and leaves of Achillea millefolium ssp. millefolium with white flowers were collected in 21 habitats (1999 and 2000) in Lithuania. Essential oils were analyzed by GC and GUMS. The volatile oils according to the cluster analysis were divided into four groups containing the same major constituents: I (four samples)-borneol (11.5-13.2%)+camphor (7.2-13.1%); 11 (four samples)-chamazulene (9.8-23.2%)+beta-pinene (9.7-26.5%); 111 (seven samples)-trans-nerolidol (5.5-13.5%)+beta-pinene (5.5-12.0%) and IV (25 samples)-beta-pinene (7.3-31.1%)+1,8-cineole (3.1-17.0%). First main constituents in the oils under study were: beta-pinene, 1,8-cineole, chamazulene, camphor, borneol and trans-nerolidol. The inflorescences and the leaves formed essential oils of the same group only in eight habitats from the 21 investigated. Fourteen samples of the oils did not contain chamazulene, two samples contained only traces of this component, 18 samples-0.1-6.8% and six oils-9.8-23.2%. The 42 identified constituents in the oils made up 74.1-98.7%. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.