Van Khien, Pham; Chien, Ho Trung; Dung, Nguyen Xuan*; Leclercq, AX; Leclercq, PA

Journal of Essential Oil Research [J. Essent. Oil Res.], vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 607-612, Dec 1998

The propagation of open pollinated seed from two camphor trees with a high camphor and linalool content, respectively, yielded 115 progeny. The chemical composition of the leaf oils of these trees was analyzed by a combination of capillary GC and GC/MS. Four chemotypes could be distinguished among the 57 trees cultivated from a single mother tree rich in camphor [Cinnamomum camphora (L.) Sieb.]. The first group (23 trees) was rich in camphor (62-93%), and the second group (13 progeny) contained 1,8-cineole and alpha -terpineol as major compounds (30-57% and 14-25%, respectively). Thirteen trees yielded oils rich in (E)-nerolidol and 9-oxonerolidol (47-84%). The oils of eight other trees also contained (E)-nerolidol and 9-oxonerolidol (22-36%) but contained higher proportions of safrole (30-70%). The leaf oils of 58 individual trees propagated from another mother tree which was rich in linalool [C. camphora (L.) Sieb. var. linaloolifera], indicated the presence of six chemotypes. Most of the progeny, 33 trees, contained oils rich in linalool (72-96%), and seven trees yielded oils containing camphor as major constituent (70-86%). The oils from eight trees contained mainly (E)-nerolidol and 9-oxonerolidol (61-91%), while those from six progeny contained a mixture of camphor (19-71%) and linalool (14-72%). Three trees yielded oils rich in 1,8-cineole (54-56%), beta -pinene (16-24%) and alpha -terpineol (9-11%). The oil of one tree was characterized by the significant presence of linalool (38%), 1,8-cineole (36%) and beta -pinene (11%).