*3.2. The Enantiomeric Evaluation*

For what concerns the enantiomeric evaluation, the EO was submitted to enantioselective GC, in a classical β-cyclodextrin-based capillary column. However, the only chiral terpene that could be identified was (1*S*,2*R*,6*R*,7*R*,8*R*)-(+)-*α*-copaene, present as a pure enantiomer. No other sesquiterpene could be detected, both as a pure enantiomer or enantiomeric pair. This result is not surprising. In fact, most of the enantiomerically pure available standards are indeed monoterpenes, whose use is necessary to determine the elution order of the enantiomers from an enantioselective column. Since the present EO is exclusively constituted by sesquiterpenes, the corresponding enantioselective GC information is, for most of them, unavailable. Furthermore, the similarity among the spectra for this class of metabolites excluded the possibility to certainly identify enantiomeric pairs within the peaks. The only exception, although a minor component, was (1*S*,2*R*,6*R*,7*R*,8*R*)- (+)-*α*-copaene, since the enantiomerically pure standards of this compound are available.
