Stereoisomers of ß-Methyl--Octalactone. II. Contents in the Wood of French (Quercus robur and Quercus petraea) and American (Quercus alba) Oaks

¹ Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Institut des Produits de la Vigne, Laboratoire des Polyméres et des Techniques Physico-chimiques, 2, place Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cédex, France
² Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Laboratoire de Recherches sur les Arômes, 17, rue Sully, 21034 Dijon Cédex, France.

Multidimensional gas chromatography was used to determine ß-methyl--octalactone (oak lactone) in wood extracts obtained from 30 newly felled oaks (Pedunculate, Sessile, and White) from French and American forests. Only two of the four stereoisomers of oak lactone were detected. Comparisons between trees, forests, and species revealed high variability in the levels of the two stereoisomers. Statistical analyses indicated that the wood of Sessile and American White oaks also contained significantly larger amounts of total oak lactone than the wood of Pedunculate oaks. The American White oaks were significantly richer in cis-ß-methyl--octalactone than either the Pedunculate or Sessile oaks.

Key words: Pedunculate oak, Sessile oak, American White oak, ß-methyl--octalactone, stereoisomers, multidimensional gas chromatography

Submitted on August 15, 1994

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