Essential oils composition of different Achillea santolina L. plant parts growing in Algeria

Abstract

The essential oils (EOs) of leaves, flowers and stems of Achillea santolina L. (Asteraceae) collected at complete flowering stage from Southwest of Algeria, were isolated by hydrodistillation and subsequently analyzed by means of GC and GC/MS. Quantitative and qualitative differences in chemical compositions between the studied parts of this plant were observed. The EOs were rich in oxygenated monoterpenes (65.91–79.94%). The major constituents in the flowers, leaves and stems were: camphor (68.12, 65.17, 55.72%), 1,8-cineole (8.22, 4.77, 0.7%) and α-terpineol (2.84, 5.35, 2.76%). The highest EO yields were obtained for the leaves and the flowers (0.59 and 0.49% “v/w”, respectively), whereas, the stems were characterized by very weak yield value (0.05%).