Citrus Essential Oil of Nigeria Part IV: Volatile Constituents of Leaf Oils of Mandarins (Citrus Reticulata Blanco) From Nigeria

The chemical composition of hydrodistilled oils obtained from the leaves of six Citrus reticulata Blanco (mandarin) cultivars grown in Nigeria were examined by GC and GC/MS, the result of their chemical composition were further submitted to cluster analysis. Fifty seven constituents were characterized accounting for 88.2 - 96.7% of the total oils. Sabinene, g -terpinene, P-cymene, d -3-carene and (E)- b -ocimene were observed in great variability in all the oils. Other constituents include linalool, myrcene, terpinen-4-ol and cis-sabinenehydrate. In addition, limonene, terpinolene, b -pinene, and a -pinene were also detected in appreciable concentrations. b -sinensal and a -sinensal were isolated by preparative GC and characterized by one- and two-dimensional NMR techniques.