The chemical composition of the aerial parts essential oils of an unexplored <i>Centaurea</i> species (Asteraceae, sect. <i>Calcitrapa</i> ) collected in Dhofar region, Oman: <i>Centaurea dhofarica</i> Baker

In the present study, the chemical composition of the essential oil from aerial parts of <i>Centaurea dhofarica</i> Baker (sect. <i>Calcitrapa</i> Adans.), a completely unexplored species collected in Oman, was evaluated by GC-MS. The main components of the essential oil were Hydrocarbons (34.8%) with 1-pentadecene (23.2%) as the most abundant constituent of the oil. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were also well represented (27.8%) being <i>β</i>-caryophyllene (6.3%) and <i>α</i>-cubebene (6.0%) the main metabolites of the class. Furthermore, a complete literature review on the composition of the essential oils of all the other taxa of <i>Centaurea</i>, belonging to sections <i>Calcitrapa</i>, studied so far, was carried out.