Baeckea frutescens leaf oil from Vietnam: composition and chemical variability

Four essential oils obtained from the aerial parts of Baeckea frutescens harvested in three provinces of Vietnam were analysed using GC, GC-MS and NMR spectroscopy. Forty-seven components, which represented 90-97% of the global composition, were identified. Two samples were characterized by the pre-eminence of tasmanone, a non-terpenic triketone, which accounted for 22.9% and 24.3%, respectively, of the chemical composition and which was fully characterized using two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. The two remaining samples were respectively characterized by high contents of p-cymene, alpha-thujene and 1,8-cineole for one sample and beta-pinene, 1,8-cineole and alpha-pinene for the second sample. From these results and the literature data, it appears that B. frutescens essential oil exhibits high chemical variability. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.