The chemical composition of the aerial parts essential oils of four Andryala species (Asteraceae) growing wild in Morocco

Andryala (Asteraceae: Cichorieae) is a little-known Mediterranean-Macaronesian genus whose taxonomy is very much in need of revision. In the present study, the chemical composition of the essential oils (EOs) from aerial parts of as many Andryala species, A. integrifolia, A. cossyrensis, and A. rothia, never studied before, and of A. pinnatifida subsp. mogadorensis, all collected in Morocco, was evaluated by GC-MS. The main components of the EOs of A. integrifolia and A. pinnatifida subsp. mogadorensis were organic acid compounds (41.10% and 43.52%, respectively), whereas A. cossyrensis, and A. rothia were shown to be rich in alkane derivatives (43.10% and 34.29%, respectively). Aldehydic compounds were the second class of metabolites in A. integrifolia and A. rothia (26.67% and 21.91%, respectively), whereas terpenoids, represented in all the four species in limited amounts, were more abundant only in A. pinnatifida subsp. mogadorensis (9.90%) and A. rothia (11.79%) species.