Scaligeria meifolia Boiss., belonging to the Apiaceae family, grows wild in Iran. The essential oil from aerial parts of S. meifolia were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Thirty-one constituents representing 99.98% of total oil components were identified. The main constituents of the essential oil were germacrene–D, (24.2%), germacrene-B (14.8%), limonene (14.2%), γ-elemene (11.6 %) and β-elemene (5.2%).
Coumarins are very common biologically active compounds that have been found in numerous species of the family Apiaceae. The biological and pharmacological activity of these substances has very interesting properties. Coumarins also play a major role in the plant defence system. The quality and quantity of furano- and piranocoumarins is important for a defensive role in a plant as these compounds form a barier between the environment and plant organs. In order to study the plant defence mechanism it is necessary to carry out a qualitative and quantitative analysis of both furano- and pyranocoumarins. In this paper the studies on the optimum extraction and their influence on the yield of furano- and pyranocoumarins from fruits of the species Peucedanum verticillare are reported. The coumarins were analysed quantitatively by a combined method of SPE and RP-HPLC.