Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil of Cuminum cyminum L. Seeds from Western India

Abstract

The essential oil from the seeds of <em>Cuminum cyminum</em> L. was isolated by hydrodistillation method and the chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The yield of the oil was found to be 3.0% (on dry weight basis). A total of twenty six components, representing 96.7% of the oil were identified. Cuminaldehyde (49.4%), <em>p</em>-cymene (17.4%), b-pinene (6.3%), a-terpinen-7-al (6.8%), g-terpinene (6.1%), p-cymen-7-ol (4.6%) and thymol (2.8%) were the major components in the oil.