Essential oil of flowers of Anaphalis contorta, an aromatic and medicinal plant from India.

The hydro-distilled essential oil of dried flowers of Anaphalis contorta Hook f. has been examined by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The oil constituents were identified according to their mass spectra and their relative retention indices determined on a non-polar stationary phase capillary column. Fifty-one constituents have been identified representing 97.0% of the total oil. The major constituents were beta-caryophyllene (19.2%), gamma-curcumene (17.5%), delta-cadinene (10.2%), labda-7,14-dien-13-ol (4.8%), epi-alpha-cadinol (4.3%), bulnesol (4.3%), alpha-cadinol (3.8%), beta-bisabolol (3.7%) and labda-8,14-dien-13-ol (3.3%). The oil was rich in sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (60.5%), followed by oxygenated sesquiterpenes (26.6%), oxygenated diterpenes (8.1%) and diterpene hydrocarbons (1.8%).