Changes in the essential oil composition of rose-scented geranium (<i>Pelargonium graveolens</i> L’Herit. ex Ait.) due to date of transplanting under hill conditions of Uttarakhand

Abstract

A study was carried out to determine the effect of transplanting date on the essential oil composition of rose-scented geranium (<i style="">Pelargonium</i> <i style="">graveolens</i><b style=""> </b>L’Herit. ex Ait.) cultivar ‘CIM-Pawan’ under hill conditions of Uttarakhand, India. The crops were raised using five months of transplanting, viz. December, January, February, March and April. The oil was extracted by hydro-distillation and analyzed by capillary gas chromatography. The main components of the oil were citronellol (21.3-28.7%), geraniol (23.1-38.4%), linalool (4.2-6.5%), <i style="">iso</i>-menthone (6.5-7.9%), citronellyl formate (6.3-8.3%), 10-<i style="">epi</i>-γ-eudesmol (4.7-5.6%) and geranyl formate (3.3-4.3%). The results indicated that the essential oil components were affected significantly by transplanting time. The citronellol/geraniol ratio (C: G), quality determining factor was found to vary from 0.55 to 1.16 in these oils which was well within the desired limit. Nevertheless, oil with best C:G ratio was obtained from January (0.99) and February (0.92) planted crops; showing the effect of crop duration.