Chemical composition of the terpenoids in wood and knots of Abies species

Oily constituents were obtained from sapwood and knots of Abies balsamea and A. alba using steam-distillation, and the chemical compositions were determined by gas chromatography and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The oily constituents of sapwood and knots of A. balsamea were mainly oxygenated diterpenes with manoyl oxide (1), epi-13-manoyl oxide (2), manool (3), and epi-13-manool (4). Moreover, 2 and 3 were found to be components in A. alba. The constituents of sound knots were dominated by oxygenated diterpenes, together with 2 and 3. Comparison of the content of oxygenated diterpenes from the material revealed that dead knots of A. balsamea contained a large quantity of 4, which was higher than in sapwood. Knots of both Abies spp. contained large quantities of oxygenated diterpenes that were also higher than in sapwood.