Comparative Chemical Research in Essential Oils from Six Apiaceae Species Growing in the Northern Region of Vietnam

Our study aimed to compare the essential oil (EO) concentration and composition of several Apiaceae species growing in the Northern region of Vietnam. The yields of EOs from materials ranged from 0.03% (root EO of Angelica acutiloba and aerial parts EO of Heracleum bivittatum )−0.27% (leaf EO of Xyloselinum vietnamense ). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) allowed the identification of 74 components in the EOs of six Apiaceae species, making up 94.4%–100.0% of the oils. In EO from Angelica acutiloba , ( Z )-ligustilide accounted for an extremely large proportion (94.9%). EO of Angelica pubescens was dominated by six characteristic components including α-pinene (21.5%), β-phellandrene (18.1%), p -cymene (12.2%), 3-methylnonane (8.7%), o -cymene (8.1%), and D-sylvestrene (6.2%). The EO from Cryptotaenia japonica was characterized by high amounts of α-selinene (48.7%), β-selinene (23.7%), and trans -β-farnesene (5.4%). The EOs from leaves and stems of Xyloselinum vietnamense were characterized by high concentrations of sabinene (69.8% and 33.8%), 4-terpineol (8.7% and 7.4%) and β-pinene (4.0% and 6.5%) while EOs from aerial parts and root of Xyloselinum leonidii comprise four characteristic monoterpenes including α-pinene (28.2% and 52.8%), β-pinene (7.9% and 10.3%), β-phellandrene (7.6% and 15.3%), and sabinene (3.0% and 4.1%). Additionally, cryptone is also one of the major components in the EO of Xyloselinum leonidii (13.2% in the aerial parts oil and 2. 8% in the root oil). In the EOs isolated from the aerial parts and root of Heracleum bivittatum , α-pinene (22.5% and 70.2%) and β-pinene (43.2% and 20.0%) were the predominant monoterpenes. Sabinene appeared in the EO from aerial parts of Heracleum bivittatum with a relatively high concentration (13.5%) while bornyl acetate (5.1%) was also one of the main components in the EO from its aerial parts but was not detected in other Apiaceae species in the present study. These databases help identify and control the quality of plant material studied from the family Apiaceae growing in Vietnam.