Abstract: A steam distillation process was adopted to extract geranium oil from fresh leaves of Pelargonium Graveolens L.. More than 40 ingredients were isolated from the geranium oil and 24 compenents of (those were identified by GC-MS.The GC content of 24 compenents were 95.45% of total essential oil. Among the ingredients, citronellol occupies the largest percentage(30.69%), which is followed successively by citronellyl formate(11.89%), isomenthone(9.73%), β-gurjunene(6.89%), linalool(3.52%), cis-rose oxide(3.38%), germacrene(3.13%), geraniol(3.05%), α-caryophyllene(2.55%), α-pinene(2.43%), β-caryophyllene(2.31%), α-calacorene(2.21%), β-elemene(2.19%), citronellyl propionate(2.08%), etc. The result also indicates that the geranium oil contains 13.89% of cough/asthma-relieving active ingredients such as geraniol, caryophyllene, α-pinene, α-phellandrene, guaiol, β-myrcene and limonene. This study has explored a new direction for further researches on geranium oil and provides preliminary experimental basis for developing its medicinal value.

Key words: geranium oil, chemical ingredients, GC-MS, relieving cough