Progress in Essential Oils

Valerian Root Oil

An oil of valerian root (Valeriana officinalis L.) of Chinese origin was the subject of analysis by Zhang et al. (1993).

The main constituent of valerian root oil was reported by Deng et al. (1995) to be bornyl acetate. As many of the constituents listed in that analysis appeared to be incorrect the compositional study is not included in this review.

Oils produced from the roots and rhizomes of the ‘Shipka’ cultivar of V. officinalis were produced either by steam distillation or water distillation in Bulgaria by Georgiev et al. (1999). The authors reported that the root and rhizome oils were similar; however, only 41.7% of the oil was characterized. In addition they also found that the oil retained in the roots and rhizomes after 3 hr distillation was 32–52% with a valeranone content of 11.6–15.6%. Kornievs’ka et al. (2000) analyzed oils produced from three Ukranian Valeriana species among which was V. officinalis.

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