Essential oil composition of fruits and leaves of Zanthoxylum nitidum grown in upper Assam region of India

Essential oils isolated by hydro-distillation from the fruits and leaves of Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC (Rutaceae), growing in upper Assam region of North-East India were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The fruit volatile oil contained 17 components amongst which 75% were monoterpenes, 12.5% were sesquiterpenes and 12.5% were straight chain hydrocarbons; whereas the leaf volatile oil contained 16 components out of which 60% were monoterpenes, 13.3% were sesquiterpenes, and 26.7% were straight chain hydrocarbons. Linalool (23.3%), limonene (12.9%), α-terpineol (8.3%), α-pinene (7.9%) were the predominant monoterpenes of the fruit oil and the main monoterpenes in the leaf oil were limonene (33.1%), geraniol (10.6%) and carvone (9.6%).