Celery 323
furanocoumarins (bergapten) and flavonoids (apiin). Celery seed volatile oil as reported
by Farrell (1999) primarily consists of 60% d-limonene, 10–20% selinene, 2.5–3.0%
sedanolid and 0.5% sedanonic anhydride. The aroma-chemicals present in celery
seed as analysed through GC/MS analysis (Cu Jian-Qin et al., 1990) are given in
Table 18.2.
The chemical composition varies with the stage of the plant at harvesting. The
composition of the oil from the fresh aerial parts of celery (at flowering stage) are a
and b-pinene, myrcene, transfarnesene, humulene, limonene, cis-b-ocimene, G-
terpenene, trans-b-ocimene, apiol, b-selinene, senkyuonlide and neocnidilide (Sahel
et al., 1985). Choline ascorbate and enzyme inositol trisphosphate were isolated from
celery leaves (Kavalali and Akcasu, 1985); McMurry and Irvine, 1988), respectively.
The chemical constituents extracted from the roots of Apium graveolens var. dulce
were 4-phthalides butylphthalide, neocnidilide, cnidilide, z-lingustilide and senkyonolide
and Apium graveolens var. rapaceum contained butylphthalide and z-butylide
nephthalide, cnidilide, E and Z-ligustilide, neocnidilide and senkyonolide (Gijbels et
al., 1985). Chowdhury and Gupta (2000) found that celery oil contained 28 compounds
belonging to different categories such as terpenes, sesquiterpenes and their derivatives
(Table 18.3). The compound b-selinene was the major constituent (29.23%), whereas
most of the other workers have reported limonene and selinene as the major constituents.
The chemical structures of both compounds are given in Fig. 18.1.
Table 18.2 Details of aroma-chemicals reported in celery seed oilCompound Percentagea-Pinene 1.05
Camphene Traces
b-Pinene Traces
Sabenene 0.76
Myrcene 0.95
-3-carene Traces
a-Phellandrene Traces
Limonene 72.16
b-Phellandrene 0.02
Cis b-Ocimene Traces
Trans-b-Ocimene Traces
r-Cymene 0.74
Pentyl benzene 0.02
Linalool 1.48
Isopulegone 0.16
Caryophyllene 0.17
Carvone 0.09
Geranyl acetate 0.04
a-lonone 0.05
Cinnamic aldehyde 0.15
Thymol 0.17
b-Selinene 12.17
a-Selinene 2.05
Epoxycaryophyllene 0.55
h-butyl phthalide 2.56
Eudesmol 0.29
Lingustilide 2.41Source: Cu Jian-Qin et al., (1990).