A Review of the Volatiles of theAnnonaceae

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Abstract
The Annonaceae is a tropical to subtropical plant family distributed from Africa, Asia, Central and South America to Australia. It consists of numerous fruit trees (custard apple—Annona atemoya, soursop—A. muricata), plants whose dried fruit are used as condiments (Ethiopian pepper—Xylopia aethiopica, Calabash nutmeg—Monodora myristica and one well-known fragrant flower (ylang ylang—Cananga odorata). The volatile composition of these and numerous other species found in 17 different genera are reviewed. More than 200 volatiles have been identified in these essential oils. These compounds are basically mono- and sesquiterpenoids. Typical constituents include α- and β-pinene, myrcene, p-cymene, limonene, linalool, and 1,8-cineole. The sesquiterpenoids represented the most common group of components. Prenyl indoles, a rare nitro-ethane and a sesquiterpenoid of a novel skeletal type also have been encountered.