Composition of the wood oils of Calocedrus macrolepis, Calocedrus rupestris and Cupressus tonkinensis (Cupressaceae) from Vietnam

Abstract

In the present investigation we studied the essential oil contents and compositions of three individual plants from Cupressaceae family cultivated in Vietnam. The air-dried plants were hydrodistilled and the oils analysed by GC and GC-MS. The components were identified by MS libraries and their RIs. The wood essential oil of Calocedrus rupestris Aver, H.T. Nguyen et L.K. Phan., afforded oil whose major compounds were sesquiterpenes represented mainly by α-cedrol (31.1%) and thujopsene (15.2%). In contrast, monoterpene compounds mainly α-terpineol (11.6%) and myrtenal (10.6%) occurred in Calocedrus macrolepis Kurz. The wood of Cupressus tonkinensis Silba afforded oil whose major compounds were also the monoterpenes namely sabinene (22.3%), -pinene (15.2%) and terpinen-4-ol (15.5%). The chemotaxonomic implication of the present results was also discussed.