Essential oils of some Boswellia spp., myrrh and opopanax

Abstract

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of resins of Boswellia neglecta, B. pirottae,B. rivae, Commiphora myrrha (myrrh) and C. guidottii (opopanax or scented myrrh) were analysed using GC-MS. alpha-Thujene (19.2%), alpha-pinene (16.7%) and terpinen-4-ol (12.5%) were found to be the major components in B. neglecta; limonene (14.8%) in B. rivae; trans-verbenol (15.5%) and terpinen-4-ol (14.6%) in B. pirottae; (E),-beta-ocimene (33%) in gum opopanax and furanoeudesma-1,3-diene (34%) in myrrh. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.