Chemical composition of essential oil of Prangos ferulacea (L.) Lindl. roots

Water-distilled essential oil from Prangos ferulacea (Umbelliferae) roots was analysed by GC-MS for the first time. Fifty-three components comprising 96.3% of the total oil were identified, of which delta-3-carene (22.5%), beta-phellandrene (11.8%), alpha-pinene (8.6%), terpinolene (7.2%), p-cymene (6.3%), alpha-phellandrene (6.2%) and myrcene (4.5%) were found to be the major components. The oil of P. ferulacea roots consisted of 16 monoterpene hydrocarbons (78.4%), 17 oxygenated monoterpenes (9.4%), 12 sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (5.3%) and three oxygenated sesquiterpenes (1.0%). Five nonterpenic compounds also comprised 2.2% of the oil. Thus, the oil of P. ferulacea roots was characterized by a high content of monoterpenes (87.8%), whereas sesquiterpenes comprised only 6.3% of the essential oil.