Chemical Composition of Essential Oil of Ruta chalepensis in Lattakia- Syria

Abstract

The present study investigates the chemical composition of essential oil of aerial parts of Ruta chalepensis collected from fields of Lattakia, Syria. The oil was obtained by hydro-distillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus and investigated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The yield of the oil was 1.23% on dry weight basis, and it contained 15 constituents. The oil was mainly constituted of ketones (69.2%), among which 2-undecanone (38.34%) and nonanone (21.23%) were the most prevalent. Smaller percentages of alcohols (7.72%), with β-elemol (4.8%) being predominant, and sesquiterpenes (5.8%) were also found, together with oxygenated terpenoids (0.52%), fatty acids (3.12%), hydrocarbons (1.54%), and esters (4.48%). Surprisingly, its chemical composition was quite different from those of northeastern Algerian Ruta chalepensis oils, which were dominated by 2-acetoxytetradecane (58.44%), 2-acetoxytritridecane (19.07%), and 2-tridecanone (6.39%). Discrepancies indicate that geographical and climatic conditions have a predominant influence on the chemical composition of the Ruta chalepensis essential oil