Comparison of volatile components of Sabina przewalskii in different altitudes.

Variation in the content and composition of Sabina przewalskii essential oils was studied using water distillation followed by GC-MS. Samples of S. przewalskii's leaves were harvested from five different altitudes. A total of 50 different compounds in the essential oils were identified. Twenty-three, 28, 25, 25 and 22 compounds in the volatile oils from five different altitudes were identified, respectively, and their percentage compositions were separately 91.85%, 95.28%, 87.17%, 86.48% and 85.03%. The identified components were represented mainly by monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and their oxygenous derivatives. The relation between altitude and contents of various class compounds was analyzed. The common seven constituents among the essential oils were -pinene, 1-methyl-4-(1-methylethyl)-1,4- cyclohexadiene, 4-methyl-1-(1-methylethyl)-3-cycohexen-1-ol, [ s-( E, E)]-1-methyl-5-methylene-8- (1-methylethyl )-1, 6-cyclodecadiene, ( 1S-cis)-1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8a-hexahydro-4, 7-di-methyl-1-( 1- methylethyl)-Naphthalene, [1R-(1. alpha. , 3. alpha. , 4. beta. )]-4-ethenyl-. alpha. ,. alpha. , 4-trimethyl-3-(1-methylethenyl)-cyclohexanemethanol, Cedrol. The variation of content and composition of S. przewalskii volatile oils was regularly affected by the ecological environment of different altitudes.