Fresh aerial parts of A. biebersteinii were collected in May and June 2009 at different developmental stages (vegetative, floral budding, flowering and fruit set)from its natural habitat in the Dizin zone, northwest of Tehran, Iran (Latitude: 36° 4′ 52″N, Longitude: 51° 22′ 46″ E, Altitude: 2325-2425 m).

All oil samples from different plant parts and phenological stages were mostly made up of monoterpenoid compounds (88.6 - 99.6%), especially oxygenated ones (52.4 - 82.4%). The oil of the vegetative stage contained high amounts of limonene, 4a-alpha,7-alpha,7a-alpha-nepetalactone, p-cymene and 1,8-cineole. The major constituents in the flower budding stage oil were found to be limonene, 1,8-cineole and 4aalpha-7beta-7aalpha-nepetalactone. In the oil of the fruit set stage, gamma-terpinene, p-cymene and cis-chrysanthenyl acetate were the predominant constituents. On the other hand, the most important compounds from the stem oil were 4a-alpha,7-alpha,7a-alpha-nepetalactone, 1,8-cineole, 4aalpha-7beta-7aalpha-nepetalactone and camphor. 4aalpha-7alpha-7aalpha-nepetalactone, limonene, 1,8-cineole and cis-p-menth-2-en-1-ol were found in high concentration in the oil of leaves, whereas 4aalpha-7alpha-7aalpha-nepetalactone, 4aalpha-7beta-7aalpha-nepetalactone, limonene and p-cymene were present in large amounts in the oil of flowers.

The leaves of aerial parts were collected in Heshuo county of Xinjiang province in China in July 2003 (a vegetative stage), June 2003 (a budding stage); and August 2003 (a flowering stage), respectively.

Only 23 constituents were present at the budding stage, while 24 and 26 at the flowering and vegetative stages, respectively. p-Cymene and gamma-terpinene were not detected at the vegetative stage of the plant. During the budding stage, butyric, beta-caryophyllene, geranyl acetate and cis-jasmone could not be detected. Benzaldehyde was observed only at the vegetative stage. Variations were also observed in quantity. In all cases the analyzed oils were characterized by the high concentration of alpha-thujone, ranging in amount from 37.0% at the vegetative stage to 54.8% at the budding stage. The concentration of alpha-thujone at the flowering stage (49.0%) was lower than the budding stage, but higher than the vegetative stage. The concentration of cis-chrysanthenyl acetate varied between 23.5% and 7.2%, respectively, at the vegetative and budding stages. At the vegetative stage the concentration of 1,8-cineole was observed to be the lowest. It was highest at the budding stage, representing 10.4%, then decreased gradually to 8.8% at the flowering stage. The concentration of beta-thujone was relatively low at the vegetative stage, representing 8.6%, and then increased to 10.5% at the budding stage. When flowers appeared it was found to vary a little. Finally, the concentration of sabinyl acetate ranged from 10.2% (vegetative stage) to 6.5% (flowering stage).

Plant material of A. verlotiorum was harvested near Marseille (France) in May (before blooming) and November (full flowering) 2000.

For the oil from the vegetative plants, 50 compounds, representing 99.8% of the oil were characterized. Fifty-nine compounds, representing 99.6% of the oil were identified in the oil from flowering plants. In both cases, the constituents were mainly oxygenated monoterpenes (74% and 88%). The composition of each oil showed only a few differences, as the main components were alpha-thujone (55% and 44%), 1,8-cineole (5% and 15%), beta-caryophyllene (13% and 7%) and beta-thujone (5% and 11%), in the oils of the vegetative plant and flowering plant, respectively. The proportions of the oxygenated compounds seemed to increase during flowering.

Plant material: Samples of B. gibraltarium were gathered in November 1995 during the fruiting period (F), in May 1996 during the pre-flowering period (PF), in July 1996 during the full flowering period (FF), and in September 1996 during the late flowering period (LF) from El Zumbel area (UTM: 30SVG3278) . Every sample consisted in the whole aerial parts of five single plants growing wild near one to another. Once the plants reached the laboratory, they were airdried for seven to 15 days, and separated by parts, i.e., leaves, stems, umbel rays and, when present, fruits.

In the leaf oils, sabinene (12.0-33.9%) and limonene (7.8-23.4%) were the main components, the sabinene level being minimum in full flowering and maximum in fruiting. In stem oils, sabinene (4.7-21.6%) and 2,3,4-trimethylbenzaldehyde (9.3-13.6%) were the main components, the sabinene level being minimum in pre-flowering and maximum in full flowering. In umbel ray oils, sabinene (20.7-43.1%) was the first component in all the phenological periods, followed by alpha-pinene (7.3-28.2%). Both monoterpenes increased their levels in late flowering and reached minimum amounts in fruiting.

Fresh mature lime fruits were harvested from experimental orchards of I.I.H.R., Bangalore at six ripening stages: Peel color; Dark Green, Light Green, Color Turning, 1/2 Yellow, 3/4th Yellow and Full Yellow.

The constituents of lime oil mainly belong to two categories: hydrocarbons and oxygenated compounds. The hydrocarbons were 85.4% of the peel oil isolated from full yellow fruits compared to 57.5% in green fruits. The most abundant monoterpene hydrocarbons, limonene and beta-pinene, showed gradual increase during ripening of lime fruit and they together accounted for 70.7% in full yellow fruits. Organoleptically important oxygenated compounds (neral, geranial, linalool and geraniol) were found to be rich in oil isolated from the peel of green fruits (29.7%); however, it decreased to 8.4% when color of the fruit turned to full yellow. Neral and geranial were found to be high in the peel oil of green fruits (7.8%) compared to full yellow fruits (2.5%).