Chemical composition of the essential oils isolated from members of the Asteraceae

InformationEssential oils extracted from the Asteraceae family, one of the largest families of angiosperms, have shown numerous biological properties and are widely used in the pharmaceutical, perfumery, agricultural, and food industries.The biological properties of these natural agents are directly related to their chemical composition.Therefore, the present review aims to investigate the chemical components of essential oils from the Asteraceae family and introduce their major compounds.The Asteraceae family, essential oils, chemical components, and major compounds were used as keywords in the searches.Terpene and phenylpropanoid compounds were identified as the dominant compounds in most of the essential oils.For instance, the major components of Artemisia annua L. essential oil are artemisia ketone, 1,8-cineole, and camphor.(Z)-β-ocimene was identified in all specimens of Tagetes minuta L. essential oils.Agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used for the essential oils that had been studied extensively.For example, in the Artemisia absinthium L. essential oil, three different chemotypes, sabinyl acetate, β-thujone-rich cluster, and 6,7-epoxyocimene, were identified.In some cases, diverse chemotypes from different locations have been introduced.For example, the chemotypes of Achillea millefolium L. are not restricted to geographical locations and the largest cluster (the β-pinene cluster) has representatives from India, Iran, Brazil, Sardinia, Lithuania, Cuba, and Portugal.Likewise, essential oils from Iran represent all five different chemotypes.The results of this review can be used to make decisions about the use of Asteraceae essential oils.