Characterization of volatile components in Melissa officinalis L. under in vitro conditions

Abstract

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) of the Lamiaceae family is an aromatic plant and widely used for medicinal purposes. This present study aimed to determine the compounds from volatiles of the plant using in vitro induced micropropagated shoots. The volatile components were isolated by microdistillation technique from this economically important M. officinalis seedlings. The main components were determined by GC/FID and GC/MS from herbage A and herbage B as geranial (43.4–44.8%), neral (26.8–30.3%), alloaromadendrene (8.5 and 1.6%), geranyl acetate (7.4 and 5.7%), 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (3.5 and 3.5%), and β-caryophyllene (3.1 and 2.3%), respectively. The results obtained are in correlation with the previous studies.

Keywords:

• Lemon balm
• Melissa officinalis
• tissue culture
• essential oils

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK-BİDEB-2216) for support this study of S.M. as a post-doctorate research project.