The Essential Oil and Glycosidically Bound Volatile Compounds of Taxus canadensis Marsh

ABSTRACT The essential oil of the conifer Taxus canadensis, also called the Canadian yew, from the region of Saguenay—Lac-St.-Jean, Quebec, was analyzed using both GC/MS and retention indices. We identified eighteen compounds in the oil including the aliphatic alcohol, l-octen-3-ol as the major component (40%). The glycoside composition was also examined, we identified sixteen aglycones including the two major components, l-octen-3-ol (30%) and 3, 5-dimethoxyphenol (40%). The yield in glycosidically bound volatile compounds (0.09%) is three times more than the yield in essential oil (0.03%), which, in turn, is much less than the yield frequently observed in other conifers (0.5–1.0%).