Chemical variability and biological activities of Marrubium vulgare L. essential oil, depending on geographic variation and environmental factors

ABSTRACT

Variability of Marrubium vulgare L. essential oil, collected from 10 areas (S1–S10) in Algeria, was investigated. The multivariate analyses classified the studied essential oils into five chemotypes: the β-bisabolene-type (3.1–43.4%) that characterized S7 and S8 populations and being related to the sandy soil with a high altitude, δ-cadinene-type (0.2–34.2%) that characterized S3 and S4 populations and being related to the sandy soil with a high temperature, E-β-farnesene-type (1.4–34.8%) that characterized S9 and S10 populations and being related to the basic soil with a high altitude, β-caryophyllene-type (3.4–43.1%) that characterized S5 and S6 populations and being related to the clay soil with a high organic matter, and germacrene-D-type (2.1–37.9%) that characterized S1 and S2 populations and being related to the silty and salty soils. Furthermore, our findings indicated a high variability for both antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, which underline the effect of geographic variation and environmental factors on the biological activities.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Marrubium vulgare L.
• antioxidant activity
• antimicrobial activity
• geographic variation
• environmental factors

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.