The chemical composition of the aerial parts’ essential oil of Matthiola fruticulosa (L.) maire growing in Sicily, Italy

Matthiola Aiton is a genus belonging to the Brassicaceae family, distributed in Macaronesia, the Mediterranean basin, and the Saharo-Sindian region. Plants of this genus are used against various diseases in the ethno-medicine of several countries and a complete review of their usage has been carried out in this paper. In the present study, the essential oil chemical composition of the aerial parts of the Sicilian accession of Matthiola fruticulosa (L.) Maire, a species growing in South-Western Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia, was analysed by GC and GC-MS. No previous paper has been previously published on the essential oil of this species. Main constituents of the oil were sulphur compounds (45.5%) with the two quite rare cis and trans isomers of 5-(methylthio)-4-pentenenitrile as principal metabolites (16.3% and 10.7%, respectively). Principal compound of the oil was the diterpene phytol (16.5%) whereas other terpenoids were less abundant (10.6%).[GRAPHICS].