On the Essential Oil in the Leaves of Alpinia speciosa K.Schum

The essential oil(285.5g)obtained by steam distillation of leaves of Alpinia speciosa K.Schum (so called Getto,697.4kg)was freed from fatty acid and phenols by washing with 3% sodium hydroxide and water.The oil was then successively evaporated off after drying over sodium sulfate,yielding a neutral material(253.7g). This substance was divided by fractional distillation into 13 parts.These fractions were gas chromatographed and investigated by IR spectroscopy.After the result,the next facts were known:1.The monoterpenoids,such as α-pinene.β-pinene,camphene,limonene,p-cymene,and camphor,were identified,and their contents being 7.8%,2.2%,3.8%.4.8%, 6.02% and 2.4％,respectively.2.A paper reported that the contents of camphor and campbene were 30% and 17%,respectively.The contents of them were,however,known to be 2.4% and 3.8%,respectively,by the gas chromatograph