Investigation of hydro-distilled essential oil from flowers of Cordia
boissieri A.DC. (Boraginaceae), grown in Egypt, was carried out by GC
and GC-MS. Forty-two volatile compounds were identified representing
97.7% of the essential oil. The oil yield expressed on a dry weight basis
was 0.21%. The main compounds determined were (-)-spathulenol
(19.1%) and (E)-caryophyllene (16.2%). Sesquiterpenes were found to be
the predominant class (78.6%). Revision on the use of sesquiterpenes as
chemotaxonomic markers for the genus Cordia was performed. It was
found that sesquiterpenes are of common occurrence among many species
of Cordia in high concentrations but we can't use them as
chemotaxonomic markers for the genus.