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eCAM Advance Access originally published online on October 6, 2004
eCAM 2004 1(3):301-303; doi:10.1093/ecam/neh041
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© 2004, the authors Evidenced-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Vol. 1, Issue 3 © Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved. The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated.

Essential Oil of Betula pendula Roth. Buds

Betül Demirci1,2, Dietrich H. Paper1, Fatih Demirci1,2, K. Hüsnü Can Baser2 and Gerhard Franz1,*

1Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Regensburg Regensburg, Germany, and 2Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Anadolu University Eskisehir, Turkey


   Abstract
Top
 Abstract
Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results and Discussion
 References
 
The essential oil of Betula pendula Roth. buds was obtained using both hydrodistillation and microdistillation techniques and their chemical compositions were analyzed using both gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Overall, more than 50 compounds were identified representing 80% and 92% for hydrodistillation and microdistillation, respectively. The main components (by hydrodistillation and microdistillation, respectively) found were {alpha}-copaene (12% and 10%), germacrene D (11% and 18%) and {delta}-cadinene (11% and 15%) in the analyzed essential oils. The microdistillation technique proved to be a useful tool and compliant alternative when compared to hydrodistillation.

Keywords: birch – Betula pendula – Betulaceae – essential oil – GC – GC-MS – hydrodistillation – microdistillation


   Introduction
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
Materials and Methods
 Results and Discussion
 References
 
Medicinal and aromatic plants have been used for many centuries and are still popular in today's alternative therapies in first order. Throughout man's history, almost every part of different Betula species has found various medicinal applications, which in part is due to their essential oils, depending on where they grow. Betula pendula Roth., also well known as the European white birch or silver birch, is one of the most common species of this genus. Betula, of the family Betulaceae, commonly known as birch, grow mainly in the northern hemisphere and from Eastern Europe to the northern parts of China and Japan almost all over the world. In Europe more than 65 Betula species are known (1,2).

Birch tree parts and products have been important since ancient times and have been used in traditional medicine in various forms, i.e. herb, whole extract, tar, oil, infusion etc. (3–5). The medicinal parts are regarded as the bark, leaves, buds, sap or juice or their processed products and are used to treat diseases such as urinary tract disorders, skin diseases, severe infections and inflammations. A herbal tea made from the leaves is recommended in Germany as a diuretic and for special diets. Furthermore, B.pendula flavors are used commercially as an aroma and flavoring for alcoholic beverages such as rum and non-alcoholic beverages such as root beer and other drinks. Due to the characteristic pleasant fragrance, birch products such as essential oils have also found many applications in cosmetics and related personal care products (3–10). Diverse phytochemical investigations of Betula species have shown that they contain mainly phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, glycosides, sterols and terpene derivatives (9–18).

Medicinal and aromatic plants are widely used today in modern phytotherapy. Birch tree products have an important place both in therapy and other products, in part due to their aromatic character. The essential oil composition can be a characteristic feature of a particular aroma or, more important, of a particular pharmacological activity. Although earlier studies on the essential oil chemistry of Betula sp. exist (10–18), this study mainly contributes to the essential oil analysis of B.pendula buds of German origin (which is an essential prerequisite for it's subsequent medical application).

Both hydrodistillation and microdistillation (19–21) techniques were used to obtain the essential oil, which was subsequently subjected to gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC–MS).


   Materials and Methods
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
Results and Discussion
 References
 
Plant Material

Buds were collected from Maxhütte, Regensburg in April 2002. The plant material was air dried in a shady and aerated room until the weight was stable.

Isolation of the Essential Oil

The air dried buds were crushed using a mortar and were subjected to both hydrodistillation and microdistillation.

Hydrodistillation

The plant material was hydrodistilled for 3 h using a Clevenger type apparatus. The essential oil yield was calculated on dry weight basis corresponding to 0.5% (v/w).

Microdistillation

The plant material (~200 mg) was placed in the sample vial of the MicroDistiller® (Eppendorf, Germany) system together with 10 ml of distilled water. NaCl (2.5 g) and water (0.5 ml) were added into the collection vial to break any possible emulsion formation. Hexane (300 µl) was also added into the collecting vial to trap the volatile components. The sample vial was heated to 100° C at a rate of 20° C/min and then kept at 100° C for 15 min. It was then heated to 112° C at a rate of 20° C/min and kept at this temperature for 35 min. Later, the sample was subjected to post-run for 2 min under the same conditions. The collecting vial was cooled to –5° C during the distillation. After the distillation was completed the n-hexane-trapped volatiles were analyzed by both by GC and GC–MS.

Analysis of the Essential Oils

Gas chromatography

The oils were analyzed by GC using a Hewlett Packard 6890 system. An HP-Innowax FSC column (60 m x 0.25 mm, with 0.25 µm film thickness) was used with nitrogen as carrier gas (1 ml/min). The oven temperature was kept at 60° C for 10 min and programmed to reach 220° C at a rate of 4° C/min, then kept constant at 220° C for 10 min before proceeding to 240° C at a rate of 1° C/min. The split ratio was adjusted to 50:1. The injector temperature was set at 250° C. The percentage compositions were obtained from electronic integration measurements using flame ionization detection (FID), also set at 250° C. n-Alkanes were used as reference points in the calculation of relative retention indices (RRI). Relative percentages of the characterized components are given in Table 1.


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  		Table 1 Composition of essential oil Betula pendula buds

 
Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

The essential oils were analysed by GC-MS using a Hewlett-Packard GCD system. Innowax FSC column (60 m x 0.25 mm, 0.25 µm film thickness) was used with helium as carrier gas (1 ml/min). GC oven temperature and conditions were as described above. The injector temperature was at 250° C. Mass spectra were recorded at 70 eV. Mass range was from m/z 35 to 425. Library search was carried out using the commercial resources Wiley GC/MS Library, MassFinder and the in-house Baser Library of Essential Oil Constituents.


   Results and Discussion
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results and Discussion
References
 
The air dried crushed buds of B.pendula were utilized to obtain volatiles by means of hydrodistillation and microdistillation. The essential oils were further analyzed both by GC and GC–MS systems using a polar column, resulting in the identification of 50 constituents in the hydrodistilled sample, representing 80% of the total essential oil. The essential oil yield was 0.5% (v/w) in this case, low when compared to other previously investigated samples (15–18). In total, 53 constituents were identified in the microdistilled sample, representing 92% of the oil as seen in Table 1. Overall, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were found in both samples as the dominating group of compounds. {alpha}-Copaene (12% and 10%), germacrene D (11% and 18%) and {delta}-cadinene (11% and 15%) were identified as the main constituents for the hydrodistilled and microdistilled samples, respectively. However, comparison of both samples suggested that both techniques resulted in a similar composition of the volatiles obtained. In this study, the essential oil profile of B.pendula obtained from the buds was quite different from that of previous investigations and results (15,17,18). In earlier studies betulenols were found to be the major constituents in the volatile oil of B.pendula (15,17,18,22). Kaneko et al. (10) also reported {delta}-cadinene (9.6%) as the main constituent of B.pendula from Japan.

Microdistillation was utilized here as a useful method enabling the analysis of ~200 mg samples of plant material for its volatiles compared to the hydrodistilled essential oil. This technique has also been successfully applied to analyze medicinal and aromatic plants in small quantities (20,21).

As an overall result, we can deduce that the microdistillation method is an efficient and practical technique, which can be used in the analysis of volatiles of various aromatic materials in a short time at less expense. However, this work also shows that further investigations on the essential oil and the evaluation of the biological activities of Betula species should be initiated. As a renewable bioresource, Betula species can serve as a good source for natural medicines and cosmetics with a traditional background.


   Acknowledgments
 
The authors would like to thank Emeritus Prof. Dr R. Schönfelder, University of Regensburg, for helping in the identification of the plant material.


  Footnotes
 
*For reprints and all correspondence: Prof. Dr Gerhard Franz, Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany. Tel: +49-941-943-4760; Fax: +49-941-943-4762; E-mail: gerhard.franz{at}chemie.uni-regensburg.de


   References
Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results and Discussion
 References
 

  1. Fitschen J and Schmeil O. Flora von Deutschland und angrenzender Länder 2003; 92 Edition Quelle & Meyer
  2. Hegi G. Illustrierte Flora von Mitteleuropa: Pteridophyta, Spermatophyta, Band III Angiospermae Dicotyledones 1 1981; Verlag Paul Parey
  3. Madaus G. Lehrbuch der Biologischen Heilmittel 1988; Vol 4: Ravensburg Mediamed Verlag
  4. Brendler T, Grünwald J, Jänicke C. Herbal Remedies—Electronic Database 2003; Stuttgart Medpharm Scientific PublishersVersion 5
  5. Wichtl M. Teedrogen und Phytopharmaka 4Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH 2002; Stuttgart Auflage
  6. Schauenberg P. Guide to Medicinal Plants 1977; London Lutterworth Press 198
  7. 1996;Anonymous. European Scientific Co-operative on Phytotherapy, ESCOP Monographs Betulae Folium, Fasicule 1
  8. Lawless J. The Encyclopaedia of Essential Oils 1992; Longmead Element Books Ltd 59-60
  9. Arctander S. Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin 1960; Nevada Steffen Arctander Publication 96-100(rep. 1982)
  10. Kaneko N, Ishii H, Sato A, Kanisawa T, Watanabe S. Proceedings of the 12th International Congress of Flavours, Fragrances and Essential Oils 1992; Vienna Fachzeitschriftverlags-GmbH 53-63
  11. Hegnauer R. Chemotaxonomie der Pflanzen 1964; Vol. 3: Basel Birkhäuser Verlag 256-269
  12. Pokhilo ND and Uvarova NI. Isoprenoids of Betula species Chem Nat Comp 1988; 3: 273-285
  13. Guenther E. The Essential Oils 1975; Vol. 2: Huntington, New York Robert E. Krieger, Publishing Co 264-265
  14. Treibs W and Lossner G. Die Betulenole Justus Liebigs Ann Chem 1960; 634: 124-131
  15. Demirci B, Demirci F, Özek T, Baser KHC. Betulenols from Betula Species Planta Medica 2000; 66: 490-493[Medline]
  16. Demirci B, Baser KHC, Demirci F, Hamann MT. New Caryophyllene Derivatives from Betula litwinowii J Nat Prod 2000; 63: 902-904[Medline]
  17. Demirci F, Demirci B, Basser KHC, Güven K. The Composition and Antifungal Bioassay of The Essential oils of Different Betula Species Growing in Turkey Khim Prir Soedin 2000; 2: 126-130(Also in Chem Nat Comp 2000;36:159–65)
  18. Demirci B and Baser KHC. Essential oils from the buds of Betula spp. Growing in Turkey Flavour Fragr J 2003; 18: 87-90[CrossRef]
  19. Briechle R, Dammertz W, Guth R, Volmer W. Bestimmung von ätherischen Ölen in Drogen GIT Lab Fachz 1997; 41: 749-753
  20. Baser KHC, Demirci B, Demirci F, et al. A New Bisabolene Derivative from The Essential Oil of Prangos uechtritzii Boiss. & Hausskn. Fruits Planta Medica 2000; 67: 674-677
  21. Baser KHC, Demirci B, Demirci F, Kirimer N, Hedge IC. Microdistillation as a Useful Tool for the Analysis of Minute Amounts of Aromatic Plant Materials Khim Prir Soedin 2001; 4: 282-284(Also in Chem Nat Comp 2001;37:332–5)
  22. Vershnyak VM and Stepen RA. Contents and composition of essential oil from different organs of Betula pendula Roth of Central Yakutia Rastitel'nye Resursy 1992; 28: 86-93
Received December 4, 2003; accepted June 10, 2004


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This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
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