Lily of the Valley Flower Volatiles - The Chemical Composition of the Flower Diethyl Ether Extract

Aug 20, 2026

Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis L.) is valued for the intense muguet fragrance of its white, bell-shaped flowers, yet its scent complexity cannot be reproduced by a single compound. This study investigates the volatile constituents of a diethyl ether extract of flowers from Serbia using GC and GC-MS. Identified potentially odor-active constituents include benzyl alcohol, citronellol, geranyl acetate, dihydrofarnesol, cinnamyl alcohol isomers, and phenylacetaldehyde oxime isomers, with a profile comparable to previously reported headspace volatiles.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Volatiles and fragrance background

Aim of the study

Analytical method and GC/GC-MS findings

Key odor-active constituents

Comparison with prior headspace studies

Origin of phenylacetaldehyde oxime as a natural product

References and acknowledgments

PP94 . Lily of the valley flower volatiles: the chemical composition of the flower diethyl ether extract Miljana R. Đorđević 1*, Niko S. Radulović 1 * Keywords: lily of the valley, fragrance, flowers, phenylacetaldehyde oxime Convallaria majalis L. (Asparagaceae) commonly known as lily of the valley, is popular for the intense and elegant fragrance of the white, bell-shaped flowers. In perfumery, the complex scent of lily of the valley flowers is called the muguet scent. It has something in common with the scent of jasmine, rose and lilac, however, it cannot be imitated by a single compound [1] . In 1956, the French firm Dior created the typical muguet perfume“Diorissimo”(one of the greatest lily of the valley fragrances ofall time) . Other perfumes imitating or based on this flower scent include “La Muguet” by Annick Goutal,“Muguet”by Guerlain,“Muguet du Bonheur” by Caron,“Varens essential Muguet Secret” by Ulric de Varens etc. The absolute of lily of the valley flowers is used in aromatherapy to help ease headaches, depression, and melancholy; also it is most often found in soaps, creams, and washing powders. However, all parts of this plant are very poisonous; they contain over 30 different types of cardioactive glycosides. The purpose of this work was to investigate the volatile constituents of a diethyl ether extract of C. majalis flowers from Serbia for the first time. GC and GC-MS analyses demonstrated that along components of the flower wax, the main potentially odor-active constituents of the extract were benzyl alcohol, citronellol, geranyl acetate, 2,3-dihydrofarnesol, (E)-cinnamyl alcohol, and (E)-and (Z)-isomers of phenylacetaldehyde oxime. Such a chemical profile was similar to the previously described in the study of the headspace volatiles of lily of the valley flowers [2]. An oxime of phenylacetaldehyde was reported for the first time as a natural product by Sakurai et [al.](al. in)[ in](al. in) 1979, occurring in the flower of Citrus unshiu and that was characterized as one of the compounds responsible for the flower scent [3] . References: [1] Kraft, P. et al., 2000. Angew. Chem. Int. Edit. 39, 2980–3010. [2] Surburg, [H. et](H. et) al., 1993. In: Bioactive Volatile Compounds from Plants, Teranishi, R. et al. (eds.) ACS Symposium Series Vol. 525, American Chemical Society, Washington, pp. 168–186. [3] Sakurai, K. et al., 1979. Agric. Biol. Chem. 43, 195–197. Acknowledgments: This work was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Project 172061) . 1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Niń, Vińegradska 33, Niń, Serbia. *[Corresponding authors](Corresponding authors: miljanadjordjevic11@gmail.com)[:](Corresponding authors: miljanadjordjevic11@gmail.com)[ ](Corresponding authors: miljanadjordjevic11@gmail.com)[miljanadjordjevic11@gmail.com](Corresponding authors: miljanadjordjevic11@gmail.com), [nikoradulovic@yahoo.com](nikoradulovic@yahoo.com)

FAQs

What is the main goal of this study on Convallaria majalis flowers?

To investigate the volatile constituents of a diethyl ether extract of lily of the valley flowers from Serbia for the first time.

Which analytical techniques were used to characterize the extract?

Gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to analyze the volatile constituents.

What odor-active compounds were identified as main constituents of the extract?

The main potentially odor-active constituents included benzyl alcohol, citronellol, geranyl acetate, 2,3-dihydrofarnesol, (E)-cinnamyl alcohol, and (E)- and (Z)-isomers of phenylacetaldehyde oxime.

Aug 20, 2026

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