Chemical constituents of volatile oil of Tagetes minuta L. cultivated in Uttarakhand Himalayas

Among the aromatic plants, Tagetes minuta is already established a promising source of essential oils. The air dried aerial parts (leaves, blossoms and very small stalks) of T. minuta collected from different locations of Uttarakhand was extracted by Clevenger apparatus and found that oil content varied between 0. 2–0. 4% as analyzed by Gas Chromatography -mass spectrometry and GC-FID. P.-Ocimene was found as a chief constituent in all the investigated samples which varied between 35. 13–53. 47%. Maximum quantity detected in Dhungro, Chakrata, Dehradun (53. 47%) and minimum in Pauri Garhwal region (35. 13%). It was very interesting that Germacrene-D was completely absent from Kalsi location. Results of present study indicated that the location specific volatile components can be trapped commercially.