Composition of the leaf, flower and fruit volatile oils of Pittosporum tobira (Thunb.) W. T. Aiton grown in three locations in Portugal

The yields of the essential oils isolated from the aerial parts of Pittosporum tobira grown in three different locations in Lisbon, Portugal, were determined by hydrodistillation; the chemical composition of the volatile oils, isolated by distillation–extraction, was analysed by GC and GC–MS. In the oils of the three aerial parts studied (leaves, flowers and fruits), in total 49 compounds were identified. The oil samples from the different aerial parts of P. tobira were isolated in yields of <0.05–0.17% by volume/fresh weight (v/f.w.). n-Nonane was the most abundant component of all samples (26–68%) and myrcene (2–24%) was the second most abundant. There were no major differences between the oil compositions for the three collection sites or for the distinct aerial parts. Despite variations in the relative amounts of the main components of the oils isolated from both the leaves and fruits, over time, no main dissimilarities were detected between the collective and individual samples, or between the different collection sites. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.