Essential oil samples obtained by steam distillation of the whole aerial parts and roots of Selinum wallichianum Raizada & Saxena (syn Selinum tenuifolium) growing wild in the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, India, were analysed by capillary gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 24 and 43 constituents representing 97.0 and 95.4% of the oil composition, respectively, were identified. Both the oil samples were constituted mainly of monoterpene hydrocarbons 68.1 and 77.4%, with sabinene 31.0 and 11.5%, β-phellandrene 18.2 and 34.5%, α-bisabolol 16.0 and 1.8% and α-phellandrene 3.5 and 11.2%, respectively, as a major constituents. Presence of sabinene, β-phellandrene, α-phellandrene and complete absence of previously reported 3,5-nonadiyne (53.8-90.0%) justifies it to be a new chemotype of S. wallichianum.
Keywords: Selinum wallichianum; chemotype; essential oil; phellandrenes; sabinene; α-bisabolol and 3,5-nonadiyne.