Comparative study on the essential oils of Myosotis arvensis and Myosotis palustris herbs (Boraginaceae)

Paulina Znajdek-Awiżeń,Dorota Gawenda-Kempczyńska,Iwona Paszek,Wiesława Bylka

doi:10.1007/s11738-014-1562-4

Abstract

The essential oils were obtained from Myosotis arvensis L. and M. palustris L. by hydrodistillation and subsequently analyzed by GC–MS. Fifteen components in M. arvensis and twenty-one in M. palustris representing, respectively, 89.63 and 93.19 % of the total oils were identified on the basis of their retention time, mass spectra characteristics and semi-quantitative data were obtained from relative peak area percentages. The 3-methyl-benzaldehyde was found to be the major constituent of both tested oils (42.76 % in M. arvensis and 45.80 % in M. palustris). Additionally, methyl salicylate was a characteristic compound for M. arvensis and α-bisabolol oxide B for M. palustris.

Highlights

IntroductionGenus Myosotis belongs to the Boraginaceae family and includes about 100 species occurring mainly in western Eurasia and New Zealand
Genus Myosotis belongs to the Boraginaceae family and includes about 100 species occurring mainly in western Eurasia and New Zealand.Communicated by M
The essential oils were obtained from Myosotis arvensis L. and M. palustris L. by hydrodistillation and subsequently analyzed by GC–MS

Summary

Introduction

Genus Myosotis belongs to the Boraginaceae family and includes about 100 species occurring mainly in western Eurasia and New Zealand. Paszek Department of Biology and Pharmaceutical Botany, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, 9 Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland Both species differ in morphology and occupy various habitats. M. palustris prefers places with moderate light (light indicator according to Ellenberg––L7) and soil with high humidity (moisture indicator––F8). It occurs in wet meadows, at the edge of waters, wetlands. M. arvensis prefers a slightly smaller amount of light than M. palustris It occurs in wet meadows, at the edge of waters, wetlands (light indicator––L6) on fresh and dry soils (moisture indicator––F5) like fields, fallows, roadsides, grasslands and forest edges (Jager 2011). To the best of our knowledge, there are no previous reports on the essential oil profile of species belonging to genus Myosotis (Boraginaceae)

Materials and methods

Results and discussion

23 Hexadecanoic acid