It is a temperate genus and grows in the warm temperate regions. About 23 species occur in India. H. candolleanum (Wight et arn), Gamble, an endemic species of Western Ghats, is a large perennial herb with tuberous roots commonly found in the hills and mountains of Peninsular India at higher altitudes. The plant is used in folk and tribal medicine for various purposes.

The kani tribes administer decoction of the whole plant internally for nervous disorders inflammatory conditions. The decoction of the root of this plant is used by the tribals to treat inflammatory condition, as an antiarthritic and nerve tonic. 1 A number of furanocoumarins and two monoterpenoids were reported from the fruits and roots of H. candolleanum 2 Sirolimus order and chemical

composition of essential oil was reported from the rhizomes of H. candolleanum. 3 The essential oil composition of various members of this genus have also been reported, Heracleum persicum, 4 and 5Heracleum dissectum Ledeb, 6Heracleum sphondylium, 7Heracleum crenatifolium Boiss. 8 and 9 Plants belonging to the genus Heracleum are aromatic and are excellent sources of essential oils. Here we report the chemical composition of the oils from the seeds of H. candolleanum. H. candolleanum (Wight et Arn) were collected from Ambalapara, Aralam wild life sanctuary. It was identified by Dr. Udayan. P. S. (Department of botany, Sree Krishna College, Guruvayoor). The herbarium is deposited at Sree Krishna College, ADP ribosylation factor Guruvayoor and Karpagam University, Coimbatore. Voucher No: 0123 MAPK inhibitor on 25. 03.2009. 1 kg of seeds of H. candolleanum was hydrodistilled for 4 h in a modified Clevenger type apparatus to yield 0.4% of essential oil. The essential oil so obtained was stored in a sealed glass tubes with screw lid cover under refrigeration at 4 °C. The essential oil of H. candolleanum was subjected to GC–MS analysis on an Agilent system consisting of a model 6890N gas chromatograph, a model 5975 inert mass selective detector (EIMS, electron energy, 70 eV, scan range 50–1000 amu, and scan rate 2 scans/s), and an Agilent Chem Station data system. The GC column was an DB-5 ms, fused silica capillary with a (5% phenyl)-methyl poly siloxane stationary phase,

film thickness of 0.25 μm, a length of 30 m, and an internal diameter of 0.25 mm. The carrier gas was helium with a column head pressure of 7.07 psi and flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. Inlet temperature was 230 °C and MSD detector temperature was 230 °C. The GC oven temperature program was used as follows: 70 °C @ 5 °C/min, final temperature 120 s ramp @ 10 °C/min, final temperature 280 for 20 min. The sample was dissolved in 10 mL of acetone:toluene (1:1) mixture. 1 μL injections using a split less injection technique was used. Identification of oil components was achieved based on their retention indices, and by comparison of their mass spectral fragmentation patterns with those reported in the literature and stored on the MS library [NIST database (G1036A, revision D.01.