The Essential Oils with Dominant Germacrene D of Hypericum perforatum L. Growing Wild in Lithuania

Abstract

The oil-poor Hypericum perforatum plants were collected at full flowering from ten wild habitats in Lithuania. The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The most predominant compound was germacrene D (12.0–29.5%). The second major constituents were β-caryophyllene (8.8–10.5%, three oils), caryophyllene oxide (11.9–13.1%, two samples), β-eudesma-4(15),5-dien-1-ol (9.1–11.7 %, two oils), β-farnesene (9.0%, one sample) and tetradecanal (9.4%) with tetradecanol (9.4%, one oil). The oils were rich in sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (31.8–52.4%). Thirty-one out of the eighty identified constituents were found in the all oils. The identified compounds comprised 87.5–95.6% of the oils.