Analysis of the aroma compounds of the essential oil of seeds of the spice plant Zanthoxylum rhetsa from southern India

The compounds of the essential oil of seeds of the spice plant Zanthoxylum rhetsa (Rutaceae) which give the seeds their characteristic odour were analysed using GC/FID and GC/MS. Monoterpenes were identified as the main components of this oil. The monoterpene hydrocarbons sabinene, limonene, pinenes, para-cymene and terpinenes, as well as the monoterpene alcohols terpinen-4-ol and alpha-terpineol, are dominating constituents and therefore responsible for the characteristic odour of the seeds of this spice plant from southern India.