Essential oils of etlingera elatior (Jack) R. M. Smith and etlingera littoralis (Koenig) Giseke

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of the leaves, rhizomes and roots of Etlingera elatior (Jack) R. M. Smith and a white-flowered variety known as Thai queen, and Etlingera littoralis (Koenig) Giseke were analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS. The oils of E. elatior were dominated by mono- and sesquiterpenoids, with the major components being myrcene (13.5%), α-humulene (11.8%) and β-caryophyllene (10.7%) in the leaf oil, and camphene (18.0%) and β-pinene (16.9%) in the oils from the rhizomes and roots, respectively. The oil profiles of the Thai queen cultivar were similar, except for a much higher level of α-pinene (24.4%) and a lower concentration of myrcene in the leaf oil, and markedly increased proportions of dodecanol and dodecanal in both the oil of the leaves (18.9% and 15.9%, respectively) and that of the rhizomes and roots (12.9% and 10.6%, respectively). The oils of E. littoralis were characterized by high levels of phenylpropanoids, principally (E)-methyl isoeugenol at 37.7% in the leaf oil and 58.1% in the oils from the rhizomes and roots, the complete absence of non-terpenic aliphatic alcohols and aldehydes, and the occurrence of 8(14), 15-sandaracopimaradien-3β-ol and 7, 15-isopimaradien-3β-ol.