Aromatic plants of tropical Central Africa. XLVIII. Comparative study of the essential oils of four Hyptis species from Cameroon: H. lanceolata Poit., H. pectinata (L.) Poit., H. spicigera Lam. and H. suaveolens Poit

The chemical composition of the essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of fresh leaves from Hyptis lanceolata, H. pectinata, H. spicigera and H. suaveolens growing in Cameroon were analysed by GC and GC-MS. The oil of H. suaveolens was rich in sabinene (20.6%), β-caryophyllene (17.5%) and bergamotol (10.9%), while the oil of H. pectinata contained germacrene D (28.0%) and β-caryophyllene (22.1%) as the major constituents. H. spicigera oil contained α-pinene (28.3%), β-caryophyllene (19.1%), limonene (13.4%) and β-pinene (10.3%) as the main components. The most abundant constituents identified in the oil of H. lanceolata were β-pinene (40.7%) and germacrene D (19.9%). These chemical profiles were compared with literature results; relative similarities were found in chemical compositions of each species, but some quantitative and qualitative variations were noted. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.