Constituents of the Essential Oils from Wild and CultivatedLippia adoensisHochst. ex Walp.

The essential oils of wild and cultivated forms of Lippia adoensis Hochst. ex Walp. collected in Ethiopia were examined by GC and GC/MS. The oils from both forms were found to differ in their physical characteristics and chemical composition. Fourteen compounds representing 88–95% of the oil from the cultivated plants and sixteen compounds constituting 68–86% of the oil from the wild plants were identified. Linalool, which was absent in the oil of the wild form, is the major component (68.06–82.57%) in the oil of the cultivated form. Also limonene (3.44–32.73%), perillaldehyde (0.04–26.90%) and piperitenone (0.15–44.48%) are found in oils from the wild plants but not in oils from the cultivated plants. The uncommon monoterpene ketone, 2-methyl-6-methylene-2, 7-octadien-4-one (ipsdienone), was found in the oils of the cultivated plants (0.06–0.81%) and the wild plants (0.81–14.89%).