Studies on the chemical composition of cubeb piper cubeba Linn.

Two commercial/trade samples of cubeb (Piper
cubeba Linn.) were analysed for their physicochemical
characteristics. The cubeb samples
(designated) A and B had the following (%) analysis;
volatile oil 9 and 12; oleoresin 13.80 and 15.26, ash
5.41 and 6.20 and hot alcohol extract 24.79 and
25.09 respectively. The voatile oils had the following
physico-chemical constants: Sp. gr. 0.9142 and
0.9294; Refractive Index 1.4800 and 1.4895 and
optical rotation (levo) -14.50 and -33.82 respectively.
By GC-MS analysis 53 constituents of the volatile oil
of sample-A were identified and quantified. Twenty
six constituents of this oil were identified for the first
time. There was considerable variation in the
chemical composition of the volatile oils of samples
A and B. Sample-A was rich in sabinene (29.59%)
compared to sample-B (4.87%) and Sample B had
higher content of aromadendrene, muurolene,
germacrene-D and cubebol as compared to sample
A.