The chemical composition of the aerial parts essential oil of Ferulago nodosa (L.) Boiss. (Apiaceae) growing wild in Crete (Greece)

Abstract

Ferulago nodosa (L.) Boiss. (Apiaceae) is a species occurring in the Balkan-Tyrrhenian area being present in Crete, Greece, Albania, and probably in Macedonia. Although the western disjointed population of Sicily has been classified as an endemic sub-species, F. nodosa subsp. geniculata (Guss.) Troia & Raimondo, its official acceptance is quite controversial. In order to verify the existence of two different sub-species, we investigated the chemical composition of the essential oil of F. nodosa, collected in Crete (Greece), not previously reported, and we compared it with the previously oil compositions reported in literature. Main constituents of the Cretan accessions of F. nodosa were trimethyl benzaldehyde derivatives (29.5%) and monoterpene hydrocarbons (56.14%).