Abstract:
The Umbelliferae
(Apiaceae)
are mostly temperate herbs almost always with umbellate inflorescences comprising more than 300 genera and more than 3000 species. Some plants of the family such as anise, dill, coriander, fennel, and cumin are famous for their medicinal and aromatic properties. The objective of this study is to give an overview about content and constituents of oils from two umbelliferous crops,
Pimpinella anisum L (Anise)
Anethum graveolens L (Dill), cultivated in Sudan. The essential oils from the samples were obtained by hydro-distillation, whereas their chemical composition were identified using GC-MS analysis. The essential oils content of
P. anisum and
A. graveolens fruits were 3.1 and 1.8% (v/w), respectively. Monoterpenes comprised the main constituents (80.36%) of
P. anisum oil, all of which were oxygenated, whereas sesquiterpenes represented about the (19.65%), (14.86%) of which were oxygenated. The main identified constituent was anethole (78.21%), followed by longifolene (2.64%), Estragole (1.86%) and zingiberene (1.06%). Cis-anethole was not detected in the present investigated oil, although it was detected in anise essential oil from other countries. The monoterpenes constitute about (82.77%)of the
A. graveolens oil, of which oxygenated fraction comprised (58.26%) of the oil. Oxygenated sesquiterpenes fraction represented about (25. 28%) whereas the sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons were detected as trace compounds. The major constituents of the oil were D-carvone (40.09%), dill apiole (25.58%), D-limonene (22.98%), cis-dihydracarvone (5.42%) and trans-dihydracarvone (3.77%). Composition of essential
A. graveolensoil of dill cultivated in Sudan was found to be different from some other oils, but it was very similar in the chemical composition to that obtained from fruits cultivated in Egypt.