| Abstract
| - A new chemotype of the aromatic Verbenaceae species Lippia alba Mill. N. E. Br. from southeasternBrazil has recently been shown to have a high content of linalool in the leaf essential oil. Vegetativepropagation of this chemotype was conducted at six different locations in Brazil, and the variation ofthe content and the optical purity of linalool in the oils were verified. Yields (0.6−0.9%, hydrodistillation),chemical composition, linalool content, and optical purity of the oils from all the plants were compared,using GC−FID, GC−MS, chiral chromatography, and retention index calculation. No plant exceededthe matrix in linalool content (46.5 to 90.7%), and the chemical profile of the oils was the same forall the samples. Purification of linalool to a content close to 100% was effected by vacuum distillationof the crude oil. Chiral analysis showed exclusively the presence of S-linalool in all the crude oilsand in the distilled samples. Keywords: Lippia alba; Verbenaceae; (+)-linalool; essential oil; chiral gas chromatography
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