Chemical Composition of Essential Oil of Jordanian Scabiosa prolifera at Different Flowering Stages

The essential oil chemical composition of fresh and air-dried aerial parts of the Scabiosa prolifera (Dipsacaceae Family) was analyzed using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) at both the pre-flowering and flowering stages. Forty nine compounds were identified. In the fresh pre-flowering oil, E-salvene (54.90%), α- picoline (20.98%) and ethyl isovalerate (18.32%) were found to be the main components. In the dried pre-flowering oil, ethyl isovalerate (37.84%), 3,7-dimethyl-1,6-octadiene (9.61%) and myrtenal (7.60%) were the major components. On the other hand, the major constituents identified in the fresh flowering oil were ethyl isovalerate (59.57%), E-salvene (24.78%) and α- picoline (4.43%), whereas the dried flowering oil contained ethyl isovalerate (48.87%) as major component, in addition to α-thujone (8.10%), 3-para-menthene (6.10%), α-picoline (5.86%) and myrtenal (5.17%).