Abstract
The essential oil contents of leaves, flowers, fruits, stems and root parts of Foeniculum vulgare ssp. piperitum growing wild in Southern Turkey were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectrometry. The essential oil of the leaves, flower, fruit, stem and root parts of F. vulgare were in yields of 3.17, 0.34, 7.0, 0.87 and 0.17% (based on dry weight), respectively. Fenchone (11.86%), estragole (59.02%), fenchyl acetate (3.16%) were found to be main components in the root oil, while the major components of stem oil were fenchone (24.96%) and estragole (60.45%). Also, linalool (35.81%), epi-alpha-cadinol (14.77%) and phtalate (10.98%) were recorded as the main constituents of leaves oil. It may be concluded that the population of F. vulgare can yield an essential oil useful for the food and pharmaceutical industry for its high content in 1,8-cineole, linalool, fenchone and estragol.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Foeniculum vulgare ssp. piperitum's fresh and dry leaves and fruits are used as flavoring agents for some foods such as salad, cacik and yoghurt soup.