Essential oil profile of Garcinia Pushpangadaniana, a recently described species from the Western Ghats of India

The medicinally important genus Garcinia is widespread in the Western Ghats and the Northeast Regions of India. Three accessions of Garcinia pushpangadaniana from two populations were studied during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. Dried leaves were subjected to hydro-distillation to extract essential oil and chemical composition of the essential oils were determined using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques. (E)-Caryophyllene was the major compound with 14.05%, 18.96%, and 15.60% in all three accessions respectively. Sesquiterpene compounds with cadinene-type skeleton were found to be the key compounds in G. pushpangadaniana, making up 47.65–49.67% of the EO. These include δ-cadinene (12.79–14.38%), γ-muurolene (9.56–9.87%) and γ-cadinene (5.93–6.94%). The compounds such as spirolepechinene, α-calacorene, α-corocalene, caryophylla-4(12),8(13)-dien-5-ol and cadalene are identified as unique compounds in G. pushpangadaniana essential oil, and these marker compounds can be used for the authentication of this species.