Variation in Essential Oil yield and Volatile Constituents of Curcuma aromatica Rhizome from Different Regions of Eastern and Southern India.

Curcuma aromatica Salisb. is an aromatic medicinal plant belonging to the family Zingiberaceae. It has various pharmacological activities and is also known for its ethnobotanical uses in India such as tonic, carminative, antidote to snakebites, cosmetic uses, etc. Hence in this study, 18 samples were collected from different localities of the Eastern and Southern parts of India. The essential oil yield was calculated on a fresh weight basis and varied from 0.3 to 1.45 %. The GC-MS analysis of the essential oil led to the identification of forty-four constituents which represented 81.07 to 94.07 % of the total oil. The major components in most of the accessions were xanthorrhizol (8.8 to 24.41 %), camphor (4.06 to 18.14 %), germacrone (3.53 to 21.85 %), neo-curdione (5.82 to 14.62 %),1,8-cineole (3.73 to 11.89 %), borneol (2.36 to 7.16 %), camphene (1.65 to 6.83 %), linalool (0.15 to 3.8 %), curdione (0.16 to 4.10 %), ar-curcumene (0.47 to 4.82 %) and germacrene D (0.12 to 3.24%). It is observed that the major constituents are not the same in all the accessions of four different states. The quantity and quality of essential oils as well as their bioactivity are affected by variation in different environmental conditions. Therefore the finding of the present work dealing with essential oil analysis of germplasms collected from different regions would have enough significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]