Chemical Composition of the Essential Oils of some Achillea Species Growing Wild in Turkey

Native Achillea plants (A. biebersteinii, A. aleppica, A. tenuifolia, A. magnifica, A. cucullata) were collected from nine localities of Southeastern and Eastern of Turkey during the flowering period. The essential oils of five Achillea species were obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC-MS. Generally the principal constituents of the oils were 1,8 cineol+ascaridol, camphor, isoascaridol, 1,8 cineol and camphor as A. biebersteinii, A. aleppica, A. tenuifolia, A. magnifica, A. cucullata, respectively. Chemical composition of essential oils of Achillea species are highly variable, which may be due to the differences in their chemical polymorphic structure and environmental conditions. © 2010 Friends Science Publishers