agathosma_crenulata_l.

Agathosma crenulata (L.) Pillans - syn.Barosma crenulata Hook; Barosma serratifolia (Vent.) Willd. - Rutaceae
oval leaf buchu, Feinblättrige Duftraute

Evergreen shrub native to South Africa; leaves opposite, shiny, oval, 1.5-3.5cm long, serrate, undersides with scattered oil glands; flowers white or occasionally flushed pink. „The volatile oils in the glands dotting the leaves and fruit emit an easily recognizable buchu fragrance when touched or crushed…. Agathosma derived from the Greek meaning agathos, pleasant and osme, smell…. Agathosma crenulata and A. betulina are commercially grown for their (essential) oil.“
http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantab/agathoscren.htm

„Essential oil content: not less than 1.5% (range: 1.32-2.19-4.0%)… the essential oil, of which the major constituents are limonene (9.0-18%), menthone/isomenthone (6.49-28.0%), pulegone/isopulegone (51.4-60.0%) and both cis- and trans- 8-acetylthio-p-menthane-3-one (7.03%). Neither diosphenol/ψ-diosphenol (“buchu camphor”) nor the 8-mercapto-p-menthane-3-ones, characteristic of A. betulina, have been detected in the oil of this species. “
[cit. given: http://www.plantzafrica.com/medmonographs/agathosmacrenulata.pdf ]

pulegone

(+)-cis-isopulegone

(1S)-8-mercapto-
p-menthane-3-one

(1S)-8-acetylthio-
p-menthane-3-one

„The essential oils of Agathosma betulina, A. crenulata and their hybrids were analyzed to determine whether the taxa could be distinguished by their monoterpene chemistry. Pulegone was found to be the key component for identification of the oils. A. betulina is identified by a pulegone content of 2.4% to 4.5%, the hybrids have 7.6% to 27.8% and A. crenulata has 31.6% to 73.2% pulegone. A. betulina and the hybrids have a higher content of 8-mercapto-p-menthan-3-one than 8-acetylthio-p-menthan-3-one while, the reverse is true for A. crenulata. The cis-8-mercapto-p-menthan-3-one content is higher than that of the trans- isomer for A. betulina and die hybrids, but the reverse is true for A. crenulata.“
[Chemotaxonomy of commercial buchu species (Agathosma betulina and A. crenulata)., Collins, N.F., Graven, E.H., van Beek, T.A., Lelyveld, G.P., Journal of essential oil research, 8(3), 1996, 229-235]

„Oil from oval leaf buchu is less desireable because it contains little or no diosphenol and high levels of pulegone, a potentially toxic compound.“
[Medicinal Plants of the World. Ben-Erik Van Wyk and Michael Wink, Pretoria 2004, 35]

Used as flavoring agent and as herbal remedy for digestive disturbances and urinary tract infection.
[Van Wyk, Ben-Erik (2005). Food Plants of the World. Portland Oregon: Timber Press, Inc. ISBN 0-88192-743-0]

Agathosma crenulata (L.) Pillans [as Barosma crenulata (L.) Hook.]
Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, vol. 62 [ser. 2, vol. 9]: t. 3413 (1835) [n.a.]
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=27542