Chemical characterization of basil (Ocimum spp.) based on volatile oils
96
Citation
26
Reference
10
Related Paper
Citation Trend
Abstract:
Essential oils extracted from basil (Ocimum spp.) by steam distillation are used to flavor foods, oral products, in fragrances and in traditional medicines. The genus Ocimum contains around 30 species native to the tropics and subtropics, with some species naturalized and/or cultivated in temperate areas. Inter- and intraspecific hybridization have created significant confusion in the botanical systematics of the Ocimum genus. The taxonomy of O. basilicum is further complicated by the existence of numerous varieties, cultivars and chemotypes within the species that do not differ significantly in morphology. The composition of volatile oil constituents was used to characterize the diversity among the most economically important Ocimum species. Using principal component analysis on the aromatic volatile oils, the Ocimum accessions could be separated into five groups, which do not correspond to the different species: (1) citral–spathulenol accessions; (2) linalool-rich accessions; (3) methylchavicol-rich accessions; (4) linalool–methylchavicol accessions; and (5) methyl(E)-cinnamate-rich accessions. The fact that the groups of Ocimum species are based on morphological characteristics does not correspond to the groups based on volatile oil constituents. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Keywords:
Chemotype
Steam distillation
Chemotaxonomy
To determine the mode of inheritance of citral, linalool, methylchavicol, and methylcinnamate in basil, controlled crosses were made between chemotypes rich in each of these constituents. Four stable Ocimum basilicum populations selected for high methylcinnamate (79%), methylchavicol (95%), linalool (82%), and citral (65%) respectively, served as parents. Crosses were made using chemotypes rich in terpenes (linalool × citral), in phenylpropanoids (methylchavicol × methylcinnamate), and a third that combines chemotypes from both biosynthetic pathways (linalool × methylchavicol). True hybrids were selfed in isolation and one hundred F 2 plants were analyzed for their oil composition. The parents, the F 1 hybrids and the F 2 generation of all plants were evaluated in a field trial under identical environmental conditions. Plants were harvested at full flowering, and dried at 380 °C. Identification of essential oil constituents were confirmed by GC/MS. The F 2 segregation data for each major oil constituent trait will be examined by c 2 analysis tests. Preliminary results indicate that methylcinnamate segregates in a 3:1 ratio, and is a dominant major gene. In the two crosses using methylcinnamate chemotype as a female parent, the F 2 population segregates in 80:22 and 65:28 methylcinnamate:non-methylcinnamate plant types, with P = 0.42 and 0.25 and c 2 =0.64 and 1.29, respectively. Analysis of the other crosses are being processed, evaluating qualitative and quantitatively the presence or absence of each constituent in their F 2 population.
Chemotype
Citral
Cite
Citations (1)
A field experiment was conducted to assess yield, oil content, and composition of 38 genotypes of sweet basil ( Ocimum basilicum L.). Overall, biomass yields were high and comparable to those reported in the literature. However, basil genotypes differed significantly with respect to oil content and composition. Oil content of the tested accessions varied from 0.07% to 1.92% in dry herbage. On the basis of the oil composition, basil accessions were divided into seven groups: (1) high-linalool chemotype [19–73% (−)-linalool], (2) linalool−eugenol chemotype [six chemotypes with 28–66% (−)-linalool and 5–29% eugenol], (3) methyl chavicol chemotype [six accessions with 20–72% methyl chavicol and no (−)-linalool], (4) methyl chavicol−linalool chemotype [six accessions with 8–29% methyl chavicol and 8–53% (−)-linalool], (5) methyl eugenol–linalool chemotype [two accessions with 37% and 91% methyl eugenol and 60% and 15% (−)-linalool], (6) methyl cinnamate–linalool chemotype [one accession with 9.7% methyl cinnamate and 31% (−)-linalool], and (7) bergamotene chemotype [one accession with bergamotene as major constituent, 5% eucalyptol, and <1% (−)-linalool]. Our results demonstrated that basil could be a viable essential oil crop in Mississippi. The availability of various chemotypes offers the opportunity for production of basil to meet the market requirements of specific basil oils or individual compounds such as (−)-linalool, eugenol, methyl chavicol, methyl cinnamate, or methyl eugenol.
Sweet Basil
Cite
Citations (162)
The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of leaf drying and oil storage on the content and chemical composition of the essential oil of linalool type basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) cultivar Maria Bonita.In the first trial, the effect of the drying time of leaves a temperature of 40°C.In the second trial, the effect of storage time evaluated (0, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 210, 240 and 270 days) at two temperatures [room (±27°C) and freezer (-20°C ± 2°C) temperature].The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation of leaves and analyzed by GC and GC/MS.The drying process was efficient, reducing the moisture content 84.5% to 1.3% over a period of eight days.There was a linear reduction in the essential oil (6.0% to 3.9%), of linalool (6.38% to 74.09%), increase of the content of α-transbergamotene (1.1% to 1.8%) and epi-α-cadinol ( 1.57% to 1.77%).In the second trial, we noted increase of the linalool content from 76.99% to 79.40% after 210 days of storage at room temperature and to 79.82% after 240 days of storage in freezer.We can conclude that basil essential oil can be stored for up to seven months at room temperature and eight months in freezer.
Chemotype
Cite
Citations (7)
ABSTRACT The essential oil obtained from Ocimum basilicum L. grown in Portugal was analyzed by gas chromatography. It was found that the major components were linalool (32.2%) and methyl chavicol (16.42%).
Cite
Citations (6)
Ocimum basilicum L. (sweet basil) is known to occur as several chemotypes or cultivars that differ in their essential oil composition. The surprising discovery of 3,7-dimethylocta-1,7-dien-3-ol, the rare α isomer of the well-known monoterpene alcohol β-linalool (3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol), in samples of Serbian basil oil provoked an investigation of the origin of α-linalool in these samples. Three scenarios were considered, namely (a) the existence of a new natural chemotype, (b) an artefactual formation during the isolation procedure and (c) the case of a synthetic/forged oil.Noteworthy amounts (15.1-16.9%) of pure α-linalool were isolated from a commercial sample of basil oil, and detailed spectral analyses (MS, IR, (1) H and (13) C NMR) unequivocally confirmed its identity. The analysis by GC and GC/MS of an additional 20 samples of different O. basilicum oils commercially available on the Serbian market or isolated from plant material cultivated in Serbia resulted in the identification of 149 compounds. The obtained compositional data were compared using multivariate statistical analysis to reveal the possible existence of a new basil chemotype.The results of the chemical and statistical analyses give more pro arguments for the synthetic/forged oil hypothesis and suggest that α-linalool could be used as a marker compound of such O. basilicum oils.
Chemotype
Monoterpene
Sweet Basil
Cite
Citations (28)
The chemical compositions of essential oils obtained from Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflora (1.39 % dry weight) and Ocimum basilicum (0.61 %) were analyzed by GC-MS. Seventy-three constituents representing 99.64 % of the chromatographic peak area were obtained in the O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora oil, whereas 80 constituents representing 91.11 % observed in the essential oil of O. basilicum were obtained. Methyl chavicol (81.82 %), ?-(E)-ocimene (2.93 %) and ?-(E)- bergamotene (2.45 %) were found to be the dominant constituents in O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora oil while O. basilicum contained predominantly linalool (43.78 %), eugenol (13.66 %) and 1,8-cineole (10.18 %). The clear separation of the volatiles in all samples, demonstrated by the application of GC?GC, resulted in significantly different fingerprints for the two types of basil. The O. basilicum oil showed strong antioxidant activity while the oil of O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora exhibited very low activity, which was attributed to the significant differences in linalool and eugenol contents in these essential oils.
Methyl eugenol
Sweet Basil
Cite
Citations (78)
The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of leaf drying and oil storage on the content
and chemical composition of the essential oil of linalool type basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) cultivar Maria Bonita. In the
first trial, the effect of the drying time of leaves a temperature of 40°C. In the second trial, the effect of storage time
evaluated (0, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 210, 240 and 270 days) at two temperatures [room (±27°C) and freezer (-20°C ±
2°C) temperature]. The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation of leaves and analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The
drying process was efficient, reducing the moisture content 84.5% to 1.3% over a period of eight days. There was a linear
reduction in the essential oil (6.0% to 3.9%), of linalool (6.38% to 74.09%), increase of the content of –transbergamotene
(1.1% to 1.8%) and epi- -cadinol ( 1.57% to 1.77%). In the second trial, we noted increase of the linalool
content from 76.99% to 79.40% after 210 days of storage at room temperature and to 79.82% after 240 days of storage in
freezer. We can conclude that basil essential oil can be stored for up to seven months at room temperature and eight
months in freezer.
Chemotype
Cite
Citations (1)
Ten Italian cultivars of basil were studied to establish a possible relation between morphological characteristics and essential oil composition. The morphological parameters were recorded at the beginning of the flowering stage and the essential oils, obtained by hydrodistillation, were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Among the cultivars, four phenotypes were distinguished on the basis of leaf size, shape, and color and plant height, weight, branching, and leafing. The composition of essential oils, all characterized by a high content of linalool, included three chemotypes: "linalool," "linalool and methylchavicol," and "linalool and eugenol". Two chemotypes each had their own suite of morphological characters, whereas two groups of cultivars, with different morphological parameters belonged to the same chemotype. Keywords: Basil cultivars; Ocimum basilicum L.; morphological characteristics; essential oil composition; chemotypes
Chemotype
Methyl eugenol
Monoterpene
Sweet Basil
Cite
Citations (284)
The essential oils of Ocimum ciliatum Hornem, Ocimum basilicum var. purpurascens Benth, Ocimum basilicum var. dianatnejadii Salimi and Ocimum minimum L. from aerial parts of plants grown in Iran were obtained by hydro-distillation and examined by gas chromatography (GC) and GC–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). In total, twenty-eight, thirty-two, twenty-five and thirty-four constituents were identified and quantified in O. ciliatum, O. basilicum var. purpurascens, O. basilicum var. dianatnejadii and O. minimum, representing 93.9–98.5% of the total oils, respectively. Methyl chavicol (30.3%), geranial (23.0%), neral (16.8%) and methyl eugenol (5%) were the major components in the oil of O. ciliatum. Methyl chavicol (43.0%) and linalool (28.9%) were identified as the major compounds in the oil of O. basilicum var. purpurascens, while methyl chavicol (37.6%), linalool (33.4%) and α-cadinol (5.7%) were the major constituents in the oil of O. basilicum var. dianatnejadii. The essential oil of O. minimum was rich geranyl acetate (45.6%) and linalool (25.6%).
Methyl eugenol
Sweet Basil
Cite
Citations (12)
Chemical composition of essential oils isolated from four species of Ocimum (Ocimum basilicum L., Ocimum × citriodorum Vis., Ocimum kilimandscharicum Gurke, Ocimum. viride Willd.) and six botanical varieties of Ocimum basilicum L. (O. basilicum var. difforme, O. basilicum var. purpurascens, O. basilicum var. basilicum, O. basilicum var. pilosum, O. basilicum var. glabratum and O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora) were investigated by GC/FID and GC/MS. Results revealed a total of sixty-four volatile compounds showing both qualitative and quantitative variations among these species/varieties in distribution of compounds, chemical profiles and chemotypes. On the basis of chemical composition and hierarchical clustering, Ocimum species/varieties were classified into seven different chemotypes. Ocimum × citriodorum showed two different chemotypes rich in geranial/neral and methyl chavicol. O. kilimandscharicum showed camphor-rich chemotype (43.21%), while O. viride was found to be eugenol-rich chemotype (77.86%). Among the O. basilicum varieties, linalool-rich chemotype was identified in thyrsiflora, difforme, purpurascens and glabratum, whereas methyl chavicol-rich chemotype was found in pilosum. The most commonly found species of O. basilicum var. basilicum showed four chemotypes: linalool, methyl chavicol, (E)-methyl cinnamate and mixed type having both linalool and methyl chavicol. These essential oils of Ocimum with varying chemical compositions and chemotypes can be utilized in perfumery, pharmaceutical, food preservation and aromatherapy industries.
Chemotype
Thymol
Methyl eugenol
Sweet Basil
Cite
Citations (14)