Chemotaxonomic interest of volatile components in Lepista inversa and Lepista flaccida distinction

Wild Lepista inversa and L. flaccida were investigated for volatile constituents by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). More than 40 compounds were identified with this technique from diethyl ether extracts as aliphatic alcohols, aldehydes and cetones as well as numerous aromatic compounds. Chlorinated compounds only detected in L. inversa samples clearly differentiated them from those obtained from L. flaccida. However, the chemotaxonomic value of these secondary metabolites to distinguish these two related clitocyboid species has to be checked with the litter incidence.