Phytochemical Diversity in Essential Oil of Vitexnegundo L. Populations from India

Vitex negundo L., commonly known as the ‘Nirgundi’ has a long history of medicinal use in traditional and folk medicines for various diseases. To explore the diversity of the essential oil yield and composition of V. negundo, 23 populations were collected during spring season from the western Himalayan region . The essential oil yields varied from 0.06 to 0.10% in different populations of V. negundo. GC-FID, GC-MS, and statistical analysis of the leaf volatile oils showed significant phytochemical diversity. The volatiles of V. negundo were complex mixtures of 61 constituents, with sabinene (2.8-40.8%), viridiflorol (10.7%-23.8%), β-caryophyllene (5.3-21.4%), terpinen-4-ol (0.1-7.2%), epi-laurenene (2.2-5.9%), humulene epoxide II (0.5-4.6%), and abietadiene (0.1%-4.3%) as major constituents. Based on the distribution of major constituents, four groups were noticed by the multidimensional scaling and hierarchical average linkage cluster analyses. In conclusion, the yield and composition of the essential oils isolated from V. negundo varied considerably, depending on the origin.