Composition of the volatile oil from the leaves of Ximenia americana L

Jean-Philippe Mevy , Jean-Marie Bessière , Stephane Greff (1) , Gérard Zombre , Josette Viano

1 IMEP - Institut Méditerranéen d'Ecologie et de Paléoécologie

The volatile oil of leaves of Ximenia americana was analysed by GCeMS, which resulted in the identification of 33 components representing 98% of the total oil. The major constituents identified were benzaldehyde (63.5%), hydroxybenzyl cyanide (13%) and isophorone (3.5%). Hydroxybenzyl cyanide is known as a primary breakdown product of glucosinolates that occur mainly in members of Brassicaceae family. The HPLC analysis carried out failed to confirm the possible synthesis or accumulation of glucosino-lates in X. americana. Hence, the occurrence of hydroxybenzyl cyanide as well as that of benzaldehyde is discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Volatile oil; GCeMS; Ximenia americana; Benzaldehyde; Hydroxybenzyl cyanide; Isophorone; Glucosinolates

Domains: Chemical Sciences; Analytical chemistry

Jean-Philippe Mevy, Jean-Marie Bessière, Stephane Greff, Gérard Zombre, Josette Viano. Composition of the volatile oil from the leaves of Ximenia americana L. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 2006, 34 (7), pp.549 - 553. ⟨10.1016/j.bse.2006.01.007⟩. ⟨hal-01764236⟩