The essential oil chemical composition of a sicilian (Italy) accession of Doronicum caucasicum M. Bieb

Abstract

Doronicum is a relatively small genus belonging to the tribe Senecioneae (Fam. Asteraceae), distributed in Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Some of its species are considered toxic due to the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids whereas some other ones are largely utilised in the ethnopharmacology of several countries. In the present study, the essential oil composition of a Sicilian accession of Doronicum caucasicum M. Bieb (syn. D. orientale Hoffm.), not previously investigated, is particularly rich in sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (80.3%) with germacrene D (58.9%), α-humulene (8.8%), and β-caryophyllene (6.5%) as main metabolites. A comparison with all the essential oils from Doronicum taxa studied so far has been carried out.