Essential oil composition of Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa: chemotypic and seasonal variations.

Background: Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa is a sacred medicinal and nutraceutical tree of India. The present study planned to explore the chemotypic and seasonal variability of the leaf essential oil of A. marmelos from north India for proper industrial utilization.

Results: The essential oil yield varied from 0.37% to 0.80% in leaves of A. marmelos populations. Analysis of the essential oils by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and the subsequent classification by statistical analysis showed three types of chemical compositions for A. marmelos with significant variations in their terpenoid compositions. Major components of the essential oils were limonene (31.0-90.3%), α-phellandrene (<0.05-43.5%), (E)-β-ocimene (0.7-7.9%), α-pinene (<0.05-7.5%), (E)-caryophyllene (0.5-5.3%), β-elemene (<0.05-4.2%) and germacrene B (0.0-3.3%). In addition to this, essential oil of a locally growing A. marmelos population was also investigated for seasonal variations. The essential oil yield in this population varied from 0.37% to 0.82% during different seasons. Major constituents, namely α-phellandrene (35.8-49.8%), limonene (24.7-34.3%), (E)-β-ocimene (4.2-10.0%) and α-pinene (6.0-8.0%), showed considerable variations due to season of collection.

Conclusions: The growing location and harvesting season had a close relation to yield and quality of A. marmelos leaf essential oil. The results obtained are of significance for determining a suitable time for harvesting A. marmelos leaves.