O. Tzakou*, A. Pizzimenti, F.C. Pizzimenti, V. Sdrafkakis and E. M. Galati

Abstract: The chemical composition of the aerial parts oil of ,i>Chenopodium botrys L. was examined by GC and GC/MS. Fifty-four compounds were identified representing 94.4% of the total oil. The oil comprised mainly sesquiterpenes with elemol acetate (16.3%), elemol (14.1%), botrydiol (11.1%), α-chenopodiol (9.5%), β-eudesmol (7.0%) and selina- 3.11-dien-6α-ol (6.1 %) being the major components.

Aerial parts of C. botrys were collected during the flowering stage at Karpenisi (Perfecture Fokida, Greece) in August 2003. A voucher specimen has been deposited in the Herbarium of the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, University of Athens. Air dried aerial parts were submitted to hydrodistillation for 3 h in a Clevenger-type apparatus (yield 1.79% v/w; [α]D20= +0.70, CHCl3, ca. 0.53). The obtained oil with a fragrant odor similar to pine resin, was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and kept -4°C until analyzed. The yield was based on dry weight of the samples. The optical rotation was measured using a Perkin-Elmer 341 polarimeter and a 10 cm cell at 20°C.