Original Articles: 2015 Vol: 7 Issue: 8
Chemical polymorphism in Cinnamomum tamala (Buch.-Ham.) Nees. & Eberm. growing in Uttarakhand Himalaya (India)
Abstract
GC fingerprinting of the essential oil composition among various populations of Cinnamomum tamala (Lauraceae), collected from different forest ranges of Uttarakhand (India) was carried out to study chemical polymorphism and interpopulation variability. In most of the populations, cinnamaldehyde was found as the main constituent, followed by linalool and cinnamyl acetate. The results arise from the analysis of essential oils indicated that qualitative and quantitative differences are existed in various populations. In order to detect some distribution pattern and to identify the specific constituents which differentiate the groups of individuals, the essential oil components were subjected to cluster analysis and four chemotype groups obtained, these were I: cinnamaldehyde, II: cinnamyl acetate+cinnamaldehyde, III: linalool