Parthenolide and other volatiles in the flowerheads of Tanacetum parthenium (L.) Schultz Bip.

Extracts of the flowerheads of Tanacetum parthenium (L.) Schultz Bip. were analysed by gas chromatography‐mass spectroscopy (GC–MS). Those components that could not be matched with MS data banks were isolated by column chromatography/HPLC and then characterized by 1H‐NMR. Extracts of the leaves and roots were subjected to a similar but less detailed examination for purposes of comparison which revealed that the flowerheads contained more than four times the quantity of the pharmacologically active sesquiterpene parthenolide than the leaves. Thirty‐nine other compounds (mostly terpenoids) were characterized.