Composition of the essential oil of Lonicera heterophylla Decne.

Aerial parts of the plant (250 g) were collected during flowering in April 2000 from Tehran province in Iran. The essential oil was obtained by steam distillation of air-dried aerial parts in an all-glass apparatus. The sample oil that was light yellow in color was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and stored under nitrogen in a sealed vial until required. The essential oil was examined by GC and GC/MS. The components of the oil were identified by comparison of their mass spectra to those of a computer library or with authentic compounds and confirmed by comparison of their retention indices, either those of authentic compounds or data published in the literature The essential oil obtained by hydro-distillation from aerial parts of Lonicera heterophyla was examined by GC and GC/MS. Eleven compounds were characterized representing of about 85% of the total components detected. The major components were linalool (61.7%), (E)-?-ocimene (10.2%), ?-terpinene (7.9%) and p-cumene (7.4%). Other compounds of appreciable amounts are a-terpinene (6.1%), dihydrolinalool (1.8%) and terpinenyl acetate (1.7%). A literature search did not reveal any reference to previous work on the essential oil of this species but immunocytochemical localization of polygalacturonic acid (pectin) and methyl-esterified pectin in the walls of pollen tubes of 20 species of flowering horticultural and crop plants (including Jasminum humile) grown in vitro has been investigated. In addition, a secoiridoid glucoside +AFs-10-cinnamoyloxyoleoside 7-methyl ester +AF0- of Jasminum humile var. revolutum has been reported.