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Chamomile Blue
Chamomilla recutita, Matricaria chamomilla L.
Nadim A. Shaath, Ph.D. and Mona Shaath
Alpha Research and Development Ltd.
Chamomile is among the most widely known medicinal plants. The
pharmacological and therapeutic significance of Chamomile and
Chamomile extracts is known universally, both used in popular medicine
and medicinal therapy. Chamomile extracts used in cosmetics serve as
prophylactic agents in the treatment of dry, easily inflamed skin and of
skin that cracks easily and shows signs of seborrhea. Chamomile creams
are successful agents for the care of skin, especially in cold weather.
Chamomile preparations for the care of the scalp are used in hair lotions
and shampoos, particularly for the care of blond hair.
Egypt, being a primary source of Chamomile flower, exports close to a
million pounds of whole flowers, pollen and ground Chamomile. Five
kilograms of fresh flowers give 1 kg of dried flowers. Europe has historically
been interested in this precious product in tea bag preparations.
Blue Chamomile is an annual plant possessing a branching stem, 1-2 feet
high, with green, smooth leaves. Flower heads end the stems and
branches. The oil improves with aging. Steam distillation Chamomile is,
when fresh, a “deep ink-blue, somewhat viscous liquid of intense sweet,
herbaceous-coumarin-like odor with a fresh-fruity undertone.”
The most important constituent of Chamomile Blue is Chamazulene, an
azulene named in such in order to differentiate it from azulenes found in
other essential oils. Azulenes are blue to violet sometimes even green
compounds of varied structures with the parent base being a bicyclic
hydrocarbon. The carbon skeleton of this hydocarbon is a completely
conjugated five membered ring attached to a seven membered ring.
This highly conjugated system is responsible for the strong absorption of
light. Azulenes are found in many essential oils and are the constituents
which give the distinct color to the oil. The Chamomile plant does not
appear to contain the azulene in the free form but as a derivative or
precursor form. This derivative is colorless or yellowish and decomposes to
the free form of the azulene upon physical or chemical treatments such
as heating, dehydration, dehydrogenation or treatment with acids.
Therefore it would appear that chamazulene is formed in the steam
distillation process of Chamomile oil.
An analysis on samples of Egyptian Chamomile Blue was performed and
the chemical compositions were identified using a variety of analytical
techniques including GC/MS and dual capillary GLC. Identification of the
volatile portion of Chamomile blue is given on Table I.
Table I: Analysis of Egyptian Chamomile Blue Oil
Chemical Constituent
Ethyl-2-methyl butyrate
Propyl-2-methyl butyrate
para-Cymene
Limonene
trans-beta-Ocimene
Methallyl angelate
gamma-Terpinene
Nonanal
Capric acid
trans-beta-farnesene
Germacrene D
gamma- Cadinene
delta-Cadinene
alpha-Bisabolol B
alpha-Bisabololoxide +
alpha-Bisabolol
Chamazulene
alpha-Bisabolol oxide A
Aliphatic Hydrocarbon
% Area
0.15
0.08
0.09
0.13
0.32
0.46
0.20
0.11
1.30
25.68
1.63
0.21
0.45
4.44
6.55
3.43
38.65
0.72