Yield and composition variation of essential oils from leaves of different Cinnamomum osmophloeum Kanehira clones in Taiwan.

Leaves of ninety-two Cinnamomum osmophloeum clones were collected from various sites in Taiwan. Essential oil yields of the leaves were determined by steam distillation. Compositions of the recovered essential oils were analyzed and identified by capillary GC and GC/MS. The results indicate that there are substantial differences in essential oil compositions among C. osmophloeum clones grown in native forests. The yields of essential oils ranged from 0.28% to 1.45% (w/w, fresh weight). A total of 34 components were identified from the oils. Main components include cinnamaldehyde, linalool, eugenol, benzaldehyde, 4-terpineol, geranyl acetate and coumarin. Essential oil of clones from Chia-pau-tai and Upper ku-kuan areas of central Taiwan contained up to 82% cinnamaldehyde which may be good candidates for the commercial production of essential oils. On the other extreme. Clones from Pu-li area contained only 3% cinnamaldehyde whereas the linalool content increased to 69%. Linalool content from the Tsen-wen, San-ping and Mount Lilong clones increased from 43.83 to 68.73 to 83.33% as the geographical locations shifted southward in southern Taiwan. This tended to support the phenomenon of geographical clonal effect. The differences in essential oil composition and yields can provide quidance for germ plasm conservation and essential oil utilization of C. osmophloeum.
Leaves of C. osmophloeum from clonal plantation trees contained 0.67 to 0.76% essential oils (w/w, fresh weight, collected in November). Leaves from the Tung-ho farm clone had the highest essential oil yield, followed by Taiwan Sugar Corp. farm in Pu-li and the Chia-yi farm clone had the least oil yield. Regardless of the cultivation sites, trees of two years or older had conserved the trait for high cinnamaldehyde content (ca. 71-80%) in the original clones. This feature is conductive to the promotion of high quality stocks for essential oil production.