Differences in the volatile profile of Artemisia scoparia Waldst. & Kit. after a prolonged storage period

Abstract

The chemical composition of the essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of the aerial parts of Artemisia scoparia Waldst. & Kit. (Asteraceae) from Serbia immediately after drying (EOI) and after a storage period of one year (EOS) were analyzed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The comparison of the obtained data for EOI and EOS revealed: a decrease in the oil yield from 0.126% to 0.088%, an increase in the number of components from 22 (representing 99.8% of the total detected GC-peak areas) to 65 (representing 98.6% of all GC-peak areas), and a significant variation in the content of the main constituents. The major component of both oils was capillene (EOI: 57.2%, EOS: 35.2%). During the prolonged storage period, capillene content was found to decrease, whereas capillin content increased (EOI: 0.15%, EOS: 7.1%), which could be the result of autoxidation of capillene to capillin. The amount of limonene dropped (EOI: 2.9%, EOS: 1.2%), which is probably the factor leading to the increase in p-cymene (EOI: 1.3%, EOS: 2.4%) [1], along with that generated from γ-terpinene (EOI: 3.2%, EOS: 0.4%) [2].