The Chemical Composition of the Flower Oil and the Leaf Oil ofMichelia albaD.C.

The chemical composition of the flower concrete oil and leaf oil ofMichelia alba have both been examined by a combination of GC/MS and retention indices. Approximately 100 compounds were characterized in both oils, with linalool being the major component of the flower oil (72.8%) and the leaf oil (80.1%), respectively. The most abundant minor components of the flower oil were α-terpineol (6.04%), β-phenylethyl alcohol (2.58%), β-pinene (2.39%), methyl 2-methylbutyrate (1.46%), geraniol (1.23%), and 1, 8-cineole (1.03%). The most abundant minor components of the leaf oil were β-caryophyllene (3.0%), β-elemene (1.7%), caryophyllene oxide (1.68%), and nerolidol (1.19%). Over 70% of the components characterized in the oils were found as trace constituents (<0.05%). Enantiomeric separation using chiral GC revealed that the absolute configuration of linalool was (R)-75%: (S)-25% and (R)-95.3%: (S)-4.7% for flower oil and leaf oil, respectively.