Lavandula angustifolia

Flavonoids Salvia off. Melissa off. Lavandula angustifolia SiO, Multicomponent eluents... 

Lavender oil is produced by steam distillation of freshly cut, flowering tops of Lavandula angustifolia Mill. (Lamiaceae). It is a pale yellow, amber-tinged liquid with a fresh, sweet, floral, herbaceous odor on a woody balsamic base. 

Lavandin oil is obtained by steam distillation of freshly cut flowering tops of lavandin, which is a hybrid of lavender and spike Lavandula angustifolia Mill, x Lavandula latifolia Medik.). It is a pale yellow to amber liquid with a lavender-like and a slightly camphoraceous note. 

Lavandin, abrialis Lavandula angustifolia MUl. X L. latifolia Medik. Linalyl acetate (20-29), linalool (26-38)... 

Lavender Lavandula angustifolia MUler Linalyl acetate (25-46), linalool (20-45)... 

For hundreds of years the essential oil of lavender has been well appreciated for perfumery purposes [72]. Lavender oil is obtained by steam distillation from the fresh-flowering tops of Lavandula angustifolia Miller (Lavandula officinalis Chaix) [73]. It is a colourless or pale yellow, clear liquid, with a fresh, sweet, floral, herbaceous odour on a woody balsamic base [73, 74]. According to the European Pharmacopoeia, characteristic components of lavender oils are limonene, cineol, 3-octanone, camphor, linalool, linalyl acetate, terpinen-4-ol, lavandulyl acetate, lavandulol and a-terpineol. Adulterations commonly include blends of lavender oils with lavandin oil or spike oil, and the addition of synthetic linalool and linalyl acetate. In contrast, genuine lavender oils contain as main constituents (i )-linalyl acetate and (i )-linalool of high enantiomeric purity (Fig. 17.14). 

Table 1. Acaricidal activity of essential oil, linalool and artificial mixture from Lavandula angustifolia on Psoroptes cuniculi.

House dust mites were of interest also for our research group. In particular, we have evaluated the activity of the essential oils of four plants, Lavandula angustifolia, L. stoechas, Mentha x piperita (Lamiaceae) and Eucalyptus globulus (Myrtaceae), against a mite of stored food, Tyrophagus longior (Acari Acaridae) [230,231]. We have analyzed by GC-MS all the essential oils and applied two different methods to test the activity of these compounds one by direct contact and the other by vapour diffusion. In the direct contact assays five different quantities of... 

Lavandula angustifolia Mill. France Flower Active... 

TRPV1 receptors and PKRs, 152 True Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), 241 Tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF—a), 180 TZDs. See Thiazolidinediones... 

For an essential oil such as lavender, the same major components will be present these are linalool, linalyl acetate and 1,8-cineole. This is the qualitative knowledge. The different types of lavender essential oils will contain different amounts of constituent compounds. Spike lavender, Lavandula latifolia, has high amounts of 1,8-cineole (25-37%), while true lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, has very small amounts (0-5%). Lavandula latifolia may contain up to 60% camphor, while Lavandula angustifolia has only up to about 12%. This is quantitative information. A quantitative analysis is needed to help identify different types of oil and can distinguish chemotypes. 

Lavandula angustifolia Citrus reticulata Citrus bergamia Rosmarinus officinalis Santalum album (East Indian)... 

These would be written as Lavandula angustifolia or L. angustifolia Lavandula spica or L. spica and Lavandula hybrida or L. hybrida. 

Lavandin is produced by a hybrid plant Lavandula intermedia or Lavandula hybrida, which was bred by crossing the true lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) with spike lavender (Lavandula latifolia). Lavandin is sometimes called bastard lavender. Hybrids are widespread in horticulture, where they are bred to produce plants with the desired properties of the parents. The lavandin plants are easier to grow at lower altitudes (400-600 metres), yielding almost twice as much oil as the true lavender plant. Again, this is economically favourable and lavandin essential oil is particularly useful for the cosmetic and fragrance industries. 

Chemically, all forms contain linalyl acetate, linalool and 1,8-cineole, along with many other compounds. Further analysis of each type reveals their differences in amounts of chemical components. The situation is illustrated by comparing published data for principal constituents and then seeing how these are reinforced by an actual GC chromatogram. This is shown in Table 7.1 the main figure is the published data while figures in brackets are those taken from the GC analysis of actual oil samples (cis- and trans-ocimene are minor hydrocarbon components, but are included as they are often used as markers for the authenticity of lavender oils). In all cases the amounts of compounds in the hybrid (Lavandula intermedia) are in between those of the true (Lavandula angustifolia) and the spike (Lavandula latifolia). 

Figure 7.3 Lavender. A good-quality French lavender, true lavender Lavandula angustifolia. This shows a high linalyl acetate content (33.29%) and low camphor content (0.21%). This oil would meet the ISO standards. Courtesy of Jenny Warden, Traceability.

There are three principal chemotypes verbenone, 1,8-cineole and cam-phor-borneol. These are examples of variation due to the climate they are grown in and are also called cultivars. The names of the cultivars are not Latinized and appear after the species name, often within quotation marks. For example, Lavandula angustifolia Maillette is a type of lavender named after its originator. For rosemary the cultivars are named after their country of origin. As a consequence of this, the verbenone is also called French, the 1,8-cineole is called Tunisian and the camphor-borneol is called Spanish. A comparison of these in terms of their amounts of main components is shown in Table 7.2. 

D-Bornyl acetate Lavandula angustifolia, Rosmarinus officinalis, OD-R (pine needle)... 

Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) Mentha piperita (peppermint)... 

Lavender Lavandula angustifolia Wintergreen Gaultheria procumbens... 

The volatile oil of Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) contains Unrayl acetate and linalool, and lavender also contains coumarins. It has been used in aromatherapy to treat insomnia and headaches, and may have small beneficial effects (5). 

In the case of linalool the enantiomeric ratio was more variable between plants. In majority of investigated plants (R)-(-)-linalool dominates. The plants of the highest optical purity of (-)-Iinalool have been fovmd lavender Lavandula angustifolia), bergamot Citrus auranthium Bergamia), thyme Thymus vulgaris) and basil Ocimum basilicum). In a group of plants in which (S)-(+)-linalool dominates a practically pure enantiomer has been revealed in Robinia flowers Robinia pseudoacacia). 

Oil of lavandin abrial (Lavandula angustifolia Miller x Lavandula latifo-Ua Medikus), French type... 

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