Volatile Constituents of Evax pygmaea from Tunisia

Abstract: The composition of the volatile fraction from the aerial parts of Evax pygmaea was analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS. Fifty eight compounds have been identified. Sesquiterpenesespecially oxygenated sesquiterpenes were shown to be the main group of constituents. Diterpenesconstitute the second group components, whereas the contribution of monoterpens is very low.Among the former group of constituents, α -calacorene (12.2 %), elemol (8.8 %), α -cadinol (7.4 %),cedrol (5.6 %) and T-muurolol (4.9 %) are the most important sesquiterpenes, whereas kaurene(7.0 %), abiediene (5.8 %) and epi -13-manoyl oxide (5.3 %) are the major diterpene components of thelatter group. Keywords: Evax pygmaea , Asteraceae, volatile fraction, α-calacorene, elemol,kaurene, GC, GC-MS Introduction: This report is a continuation of our research on the chemical consti-tuents of some Asteraceae species 1,2 in order to identify the most promising plants fromTunisian flora and to demonstrate the commercial potential for the agriculture, food andflavours, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries and medicine of natural extracts.The genus Evax belongs to Inuleae tribe and Gnaphaliinae subtribe. There are 8species of the genus