Composition of Volatile Oil of Iris pallida Lam. from Ukraine

To qualitatively and quantitatively study the composition of essential oil from the dried rhizomes and leaves of Iris pallida Lam. from Ukraine for the first time.

Essential oils obtained by steam distillation were investigated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

The essential oils were obtained from the leaves and rhizomes by yielding 0.03% and 0.20%, respectively. The analysis of the oil resulted in the identification of 26 components in the leaves and 18 components in the rhizomes. The dominant terpenes in the essential oil of the leaves of I. pallida were squalene (6%), hexahydrofarnesylacetone (8%) and neophytadiene (up to 6%). Among them, myristic acid (56%), capric acid (14.50%), lauric acid (15.42%), α-irone (2.85%) were found as the dominant compounds of the essential oil of the rhizomes of I. pallida. α-irone and γ-irone contents are accepted as the most significant criteria of the commercial quality of Iris essential oil. The compounds β-damascenone and squalene were identified for the first time in plants of the genus Iris.

I. pallida of Ukraine can be recommended as an additional source of raw materials for essential oil from the rhizomes and as a source of bioactive substances.