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Abstract
The essential oil composition of ten accessions of Origanum vulgare L. ssp. vulgare collected from wild populations of the sub-temperate region of the Central Himalayas and subsequently grown under identical climatic conditions in Uttrakhand state of India were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A total of forty-six components representing 92.6–99.8% of the total oil were identified in essential oils isolated from seven different locations. The major constituents of the essential oils were phenolic compounds (13.7–90.5%), represented mainly by thymol (13.7–85.9%) and carvacrol (1.5–63.0%). Two chemotypes were identified: the first, with a prevalence of thymol (IC589087, 85.9%; IC589085, 85.0%) and the second, characterized by the prevalence of carvacrol (IC589079, 63.0%). Results indicated that accessions collected from higher altitude (>3200 m) possessed high thymol content (>85%). This chemical study attempts to provide an insight on the relationship between chemical composition of essential oil and chemotypes in O. vulgare L.
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to the Director, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, for providing the necessary laboratory facilities during the work.