Chemical components and antioxidant activity of volatile oil of a Compositae tea (Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt.) from Mt. Kunlun

• Eighty-one components were identified from C. tinctoria volatile oil by GC–MS.
• C. tinctoria was advantage in quantity and quality of volatile components than other materials.
• Main components of C. tinctoria were six monoterpene, three sesquiterpenes and a fatty acid.
• Volatile oil of C. tinctoria was with a good antioxidant function.

Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt. from Mt. Kunlun (located in Tibet, Xinjiang) is a new Chrysanthemum tea material, and its volatile components are reported here for the first time. C. tinctoria produces a greater quantity and better quality of volatile components compared with two other Chrysanthemum tea materials (Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. ‘Hangju’ and Chrysanthemum morifolium cv. ‘Gongju’). The volatile oil content was 0.42%, with eighty-one components. The major components included six monoterpenes (limonene, 11.308%; α-phellandrene, 3.884%; p-acetyltoluene, 2.761%; carvone, 2.666%; 1R-α-pinene, 2.656%; and α-campholenal, 2.483%), three sesquiterpenes (α-bergamotene, 7.314%; tricyclo[6.3.0.0(1,5)]undec-2-ene-4-one,2,3,5,9-tetramethyl-, 3.454%; and naphthalene, 1,2-dihydro-1,1,6-trimethyl-, 3.024%), and a fatty acid component (n-hexadecanoic acid, 2.713%). Antioxidant activity study was revealed that the volatile oil of C. tinctoria had the better activity than the two compared samples. With next further study, C. tinctoria could be a more promising medicinal raw material than other popular chrysanthemum tea materials.