Chemotaxonomically Important Volatiles of the Genus Anthemis L. – a Detailed GC and GC/MS Analyses of Anthemis Segetalis Ten. from Montenegro

Although there are more than two hundred taxa in the pharmacologically important genus Anthemis, essential oil composition is known only for a small number of them. This is the first report on the volatiles of A. segetalis Ten. GC and GC/MS analyses of the essential oil hydrodistilled from A. segetalis aerial parts enabled the identification of 155 constituents, representing 92.4% of the total oil. Major constituents of the oil were sabinene (19.5%), germacrene D (12.6%), terpinen‐4‐ol (6.2%) and 1,8‐cineole (6.1%). Monoterpenoids (49.9%, especially those of thujane and p‐menthane skeletons) and sesquiterpenoids (39.4%, predominantly those of germacrane‐, cadinane‐ and caryophyllane‐types) were found to be the most abundant compound classes. The comparison of the essential oil composition of other Anthemis species with the present one was used as an additional tool for the clarification of infrageneric relationships. The results support the treatment of Anthemis subg. Cota as a separate genus.