Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Essential Oil of Arabian Jasmine (Jasminum sambac) Flowers Harvested from Pothohar Region of Pakistan

The essential oil extracted by n-Hexane solvent extraction and hydro-distillation of Arabian jasmine flowers collected from Pothohar region was analyzed by GC/MS. Concrete oil recovery on fresh petal weight basis was 1.78 g (0.17%) and absolute oil recovery from this concrete was 0.09%. Essential oil recovery in hydro-distillation was 0.08 g (0.008%). The colour of absolute oil was very light brown. The readings for specific gravity, congealing point of concrete and refractive index of essential oil were 0.89, 57°C and 1.37, respectively. Overall 35 compounds were identified. Main components (>5%) were benzyl benzoate (15.63%), jasmine (9.90%), linalool (8.58%), isophytol (7.56%), geranyl linalool (6.07%), phytol (5.75%) and palmitic acid (5.01%). Other constituents varied from less than 1% to 5%.