Composition of the essential oil of the flower heads of Matricaria perforata

The essential oil of the flower heads of scentless mayweed (M. perforate Merat) was investigated. It consists of more than 50 compounds; 26 of them, together representing about 95.2% of the total oil, were identified by GC, GC/MS, and partly by H-1-NMR and UV. They can be classified into polyacetylenes (88.8%), sesquiterpenoids (5.8%), monoterpenoids (0.1%), fatty acids (0.3%), and miscellaneous compounds (5.0%). The oil was dominated by 2Z,8Z-matricaria ester (ME; 75.2%), which was accompanied by several other characteristic polyines, occurring in much lower concentrations: e.g. 8Z-2,3-dihydro-ME, 2E- and 2Z-lachnophyllum ester, 2E-dehydro-ME, and 5E,9Z-matricaria lactone.