Progress in Essential Oils

By: Brian M. Lawrence

Posted: March 21, 2007, from the April 2007 issue of P&F magazine.

Tansy Oil

von Schantz et al. (1966) determined the changes that took place in the flower oil and leaf oil of camphor chemotype, alpha;-thujone chemotype and the borneol/1,8-cineole chemotype of Tanacetum vulgare L. (tansy) during the lifetime of the inflorescence. The data obtained from the study on the camphor chemotype, alpha;- thujone chemotype and the borneol/1,8-cineole chemotype can be seen in T-1–T-3.

An oil produced from tansy ex T. vulgare L. (syn. Chrysanthemum vulgare Bernh.) was analyzed by Stahl and Scheu (1967). This oil was found to contain umbellulone (70%) and thymol (15–20%) as main constituents. von Schantz and Forsen (1971) analyzed an oil produced from T. vulgare that was found to be rich in beta;-thujone. The composition of this oil was as follows:

alpha-pinene (0.7%)

camphene (0.3%)

beta-pinene (0.3%)

sabinene (5.4%)

alpha-terpinene (0.3%)

1,8-cineole (1.9%)

gamma-terpinene (0.7%)

p-cymene (0.2%)

terpinolene (0.1%)

alpha-thujone (0.5%)

beta-thujone (81.0%)

camphor (0.7%)

terpinen-4-ol (1.2%)

neoisothujyl alcohol (0.4%)

cadinene* (2.4%)

*correct isomer not identified

This is only an excerpt of the full article that appeared in P&F Magazine, but you can purchase the full-text version.