Composition of the Essential Oils of Five Coleonema Species from South Africa

Hydrodistilled essential oils from the herbal parts of Coleonema album (Thunb.) Bartl. et H.L. Wendl., C. aspalathoides Juss et Don, C. calycinum (Steud.) I. Williams, C. pulchellum I. Williams (three samples) and C. virgatum (Schltdl.) Eckl. et Zeyh, were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Forty-three compounds were characterized in the oil of C. album representing 99.1% of the total composition. Main compounds were β-phellandrene (30.4%) and myrcene (20.5%). Forty-three compounds were characterized in the oil of C. aspalathoides representing 94.1% of the oil with sabinene (24.0%), terpinen-4-ol (12.2%), p-cymene (12.1%), linalool (11.3%) and α-pinene (9.1%) as main constituents. In the oil of C. calycinum, 35 compounds were characterized representing 99.4% of the total volume. β-Phellandrene (42.0%) and linalool (11.0%) were the main constituents. Monoterpene hydrocarbons were the main constituents in three oil samples of C. pulchellum. Myrcene (63.0%) was the main constituent in the oil of C. virgatum in which 23 compounds were identified representing 97.3% of the total.