Composition of essential oil of aerial parts of Chamomilla suaveolens from Estonia.

Variations in the essential oil composition of aerial parts of pineapple weed (Chamomilla suaveolens (Pursh) Rydb.) growing wild in Estonia, were determined using GC/FID and GC/MS. Forty-four components were identified, representing over 90% of the total oil. Nine compounds have not been mentioned in the literature before. The principal biologically active compounds in C suaveolens oils were (Z)-en-yne-dicycloether (17.0-40.7%), (E)-beta-farnesene (19.5-32.2%), geranyl isovaleriate (8.4-18.4%), palmitic acid (0.3-9.4%) and myrcene (1.1-7.9%). The investigation seems to approve the benefit of using aerial parts of pineapple weed as the substitute for flowers.