Analysis of the volatile components of Lavandula canariensis (L.) Mill., a Canary Islands endemic species, growing in Australia

The essential oil of a Canary Islands endemic species, Lavandula canariensis (L.) Mill., gathered from Australia, was extracted by hydrodistillation and solid phase micro-extraction (SPME). The oils have been studied by GC and GC-MS. A total of 38 compounds have been identified in the leaf oil extracted by hydrodistillation, the principal components being carvacrol (23.6%), beta-bisabolene (20.8%), (E,E)-alpha-farnesene (11.3%), beta-caryophyllene (7.6%) and carvacrol methyl ether (7.3%), while the oil extracted by SPME showed carvacrol (42.6%) as the principal component with moderate amounts of (E,E)-alpha-farnesene (9.1%), beta-bisabolene (7.5%), cis-hex-3-en-1-ol (5.6%) and carvacrol methyl ether (4.6%). SPME extracts indicated that carvacrol, cis-hex-3-en-1-of and linalool were in greater concentration in the head space vapours than in the oil. This is the first report describing the essential oil composition of this species. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.